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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 116 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. mate — a friend
  3. fall — to drop
  4. bat — the animal
  5. fall — to drop
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. press — newspapers
  8. mate — a partner
  9. stand — to bear
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. mate — to breed
  13. pitch — completely
  14. fall — the season
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — the tool
  19. press — to push
  20. press — a publisher
  21. net — for catching
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. drill — army training
  24. net — in sport

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