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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — help
  8. net — for catching
  9. mine — for digging
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. current — electric
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. net — in sport
  14. cell — in biology
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — a practice
  17. current — happening now
  18. drill — army training
  19. current — of water
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — a line
  24. pound — a weight

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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