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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 124 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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. ball — a great time
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. chest — of your body
  5. ball — a dance
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. wind — moving air
  8. season — of the year
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. chest — a box
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — a position
  13. net — in sport
  14. ground — crushed
  15. season — in sport
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. wind — moving air
  18. net — for catching
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mark — a grade
  23. chest — of your body
  24. season — to add flavour

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