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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 112 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. net — for catching
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. craft — boats
  11. season — of the year
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. season — in sport
  15. net — in sport
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. craft — a skill
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bat — the animal
  24. tear — from crying

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