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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. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. hand — in cards
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. clip — to cut
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. bear — the animal
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. net — in sport
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. clip — a video
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. game — a match
  20. game — wild animals
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bear — the animal
  23. net — for catching
  24. hand — help

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