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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 116 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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. squash — the sport
  3. squash — to crush
  4. tear — to rip
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — a stick
  7. chair — a leader
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. net — in sport
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. net — for catching
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wax — to grow
  18. tear — from crying
  19. staff — employees
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. chair — a professorship

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