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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. roll — a list
  7. wind — moving air
  8. charge — a price
  9. bear — the animal
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. charge — electricity
  13. net — in sport
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rule — government
  16. charge — in control
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. roll — a cake
  19. rule — a law
  20. chest — of your body
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. chest — a box
  23. bear — the animal
  24. net — for catching

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