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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. net — in sport
  3. fine — high quality
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — for catching
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fine — all right
  11. file — a tool
  12. court — of a king
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. court — of law
  16. file — a line of people
  17. court — for sport
  18. file — a document

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