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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. race — a contest
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. net — in sport
  5. race — the arms race
  6. field — farmland
  7. net — for catching
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. toast — bread
  10. swing — music
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. shower — rain
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. shower — to wash
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. snap — to click
  18. race — humankind
  19. field — a subject
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. wax — to grow
  22. swing — in golf
  23. field — for sport
  24. swing — to play on

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