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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. net — after costs
  3. land — a country
  4. staff — employees
  5. net — for catching
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. rush — hurry
  8. wind — moving air
  9. net — in sport
  10. staff — employees
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a tool
  13. land — to come down
  14. file — a line of people
  15. date — the fruit
  16. land — ground
  17. staff — a stick
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. saw — the tool
  20. wind — moving air
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. saw — the tool
  24. rush — to hurry

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