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

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bear — the animal
  3. march — music
  4. net — after costs
  5. march — the month
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. net — in sport
  8. march — the month
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bear — the animal
  13. court — of a king
  14. season — in sport
  15. season — of the year
  16. wound — an injury
  17. court — of law
  18. net — for catching

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