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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. land — to come down
  3. root — the cause
  4. wind — moving air
  5. firm — a company
  6. present — a gift
  7. tear — to rip
  8. net — for catching
  9. firm — steady
  10. tear — from crying
  11. land — a country
  12. wind — moving air
  13. firm — decided
  14. net — in sport
  15. tear — from crying
  16. last — final
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. land — ground
  19. last — to go on
  20. present — there
  21. present — the time now
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — of a word
  24. last — finally

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