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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. kid — child
  3. spell — letters
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. tube — the underground
  7. spell — a short time
  8. net — in sport
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — for sport
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. mark — a trace
  15. craft — boats
  16. kid — to tease
  17. mark — a grade
  18. tube — a container
  19. spell — magic
  20. craft — a skill
  21. field — farmland
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. snap — to click
  24. net — for catching

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