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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — in sport
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. march — music
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. cold — not warm
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. march — the month
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. pitch — completely
  13. press — newspapers
  14. net — for catching
  15. press — to push
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. press — a publisher
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. march — the month
  24. temple — a place of worship

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