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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · present · straw · game · mine · drill · stem · cap

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. cap — a lid
  5. game — wild animals
  6. drill — army training
  7. present — a gift
  8. game — a match
  9. mine — for digging
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. net — in sport
  12. cap — a hat
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. cap — of ice
  15. present — the time now
  16. present — there
  17. net — for catching
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. drill — a practice
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. stem — to come from
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. drill — the tool

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