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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — to paddle
  4. file — a tool
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. degree — an amount
  7. land — ground
  8. net — for catching
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. land — a country
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a document
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. net — in sport
  17. degree — from a university
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a city
  20. bass — low music
  21. bass — the fish
  22. row — a line
  23. land — to come down
  24. capital — a big letter

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