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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: net · wind · date · foot · chest · wake · bat · plane

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. wake — a trail
  3. date — the fruit
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. net — for catching
  8. plane — a tool
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. foot — a measure
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. net — in sport
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. chest — of your body
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. chest — a box
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. bat — the animal

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