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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. toast — bread
  4. net — after costs
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. net — for catching
  7. current — of water
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. chair — a leader
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cold — not warm
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. kick — in football
  20. rest — a break
  21. current — happening now
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. current — electric

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