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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. net — after costs
  3. rest — a break
  4. current — electric
  5. current — of water
  6. kid — child
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. net — in sport
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. ground — a position
  11. bass — low music
  12. ground — crushed
  13. tear — to rip
  14. ground — the earth
  15. tear — from crying
  16. rest — what's left
  17. current — happening now
  18. date — the fruit
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bass — the fish
  21. kid — to tease
  22. rest — what's left
  23. bass — the instrument
  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