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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. track — to keep track
  3. game — wild animals
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cap — a hat
  6. hand — help
  7. cell — a phone
  8. ground — a position
  9. cap — a lid
  10. track — a path
  11. cap — of ice
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. net — for catching
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. fine — high quality
  16. track — a song
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. ground — crushed
  20. cell — in biology
  21. game — a match
  22. ground — the earth
  23. net — after costs
  24. fine — all right

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