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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. tear — from crying
  3. date — the fruit
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. wound — an injury
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. tear — from crying
  8. net — in sport
  9. roll — a list
  10. club — a group
  11. craft — boats
  12. wound — an injury
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. club — for dancing
  15. tear — to rip
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. craft — a skill
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. roll — a cake
  20. club — for golf
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. net — for catching
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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