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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. chip — to eat
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. net — in sport
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. chip — for betting
  8. saw — the tool
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. degree — an amount
  11. net — for catching
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. last — finally
  15. degree — from a university
  16. last — final
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. saw — the tool
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. last — to go on
  22. pound — a weight
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bat — in an idiom

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