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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. degree — an amount
  3. field — farmland
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. field — a subject
  7. saw — the tool
  8. spell — magic
  9. degree — from a university
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. mate — a partner
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. mate — to breed
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. spell — letters
  17. net — in sport
  18. degree — temperature
  19. field — for sport
  20. spell — a short time
  21. saw — the tool
  22. net — for catching
  23. mate — a friend
  24. pitcher — a jug

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