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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. net — in sport
  3. net — after costs
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. face — to confront
  7. rest — what's left
  8. kid — child
  9. rest — a break
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pound — a weight
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. cold — an illness
  17. net — for catching
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. ball — a dance
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — to tease
  22. rest — what's left
  23. face — to point toward
  24. face — part of the head

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