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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. rest — what's left
  4. capital — a city
  5. rest — what's left
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. net — in sport
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. land — ground
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. kick — in football
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rest — a break
  15. net — after costs
  16. wound — an injury
  17. land — a country
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. land — to come down
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — money

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