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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. spell — letters
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. net — in sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bark — to shout
  15. fine — high quality
  16. rash — hasty
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. spell — a short time
  19. net — for catching
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. wind — moving air
  22. rash — a series
  23. fine — all right
  24. spell — magic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com