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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. rash — hasty
  3. key — in music
  4. net — in sport
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. key — the most important part
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. drill — the tool
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. drill — a practice
  16. rash — a series
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a word
  19. root — of a plant
  20. drill — army training
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. key — for a lock
  23. net — for catching
  24. rash — on the skin

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