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

Word bank: wind · net · land · chair · snap · cap · racket · stand

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — for catching
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. land — to come down
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. chair — a leader
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. net — in sport
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. land — a country
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. cap — a hat
  17. snap — to click
  18. stand — to bear
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cap — a lid
  21. wind — moving air
  22. land — ground
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. cap — of ice

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