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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 120 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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. march — music
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. pitch — completely
  6. net — in sport
  7. bear — the animal
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. net — for catching
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. bear — the animal
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cell — in biology
  20. fork — in a road
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. cell — in a prison

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