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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.

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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. net — after costs
  3. last — final
  4. saw — the tool
  5. last — finally
  6. last — to go on
  7. court — of a king
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — music
  11. saw — the tool
  12. snap — to click
  13. net — for catching
  14. court — for sport
  15. net — in sport
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. court — of law
  18. snap — to snap out of it

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