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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. snap — to click
  3. suit — to fit
  4. land — to come down
  5. net — for catching
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. rush — hurry
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. land — a country
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. tear — to rip
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. tear — from crying
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. tear — from crying
  19. net — in sport
  20. chest — a box
  21. land — ground
  22. suit — clothes
  23. suit — in cards
  24. fan — a supporter

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