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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. net — after costs
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. net — in sport
  5. last — finally
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. file — a line of people
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. last — to go on
  10. file — a tool
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. net — for catching
  13. rock — a stone
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. file — a document
  16. rock — music
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bound — certain
  21. bound — obliged
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bound — tied together
  24. bat — for baseball

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