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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. land — to come down
  3. lean — to bend
  4. land — ground
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. field — a subject
  7. shower — to wash
  8. net — in sport
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. vault — a safe
  11. field — farmland
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. land — a country
  16. lean — thin
  17. net — for catching
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. shower — rain
  20. object — an aim
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. object — to protest
  23. field — for sport
  24. object — a thing

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