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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 120 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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. ground — a position
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. ground — crushed
  6. net — for catching
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. spring — the season
  9. fine — high quality
  10. race — a contest
  11. net — in sport
  12. spring — of water
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. wound — an injury
  17. court — of law
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. spring — a coil
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. race — the arms race
  22. fine — all right
  23. ground — the earth
  24. race — humankind

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