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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: last · net · fall · cold · stem · roll · racket · jam

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. cold — not warm
  4. roll — a list
  5. fall — to drop
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. last — final
  11. roll — a cake
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — for catching
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. last — to go on
  16. stem — to come from
  17. fall — the season
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. fall — to drop
  20. last — finally
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. jam — in traffic

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