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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. net — after costs
  3. court — of law
  4. cue — for pool
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. cue — a signal
  9. mark — a trace
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cue — a hint
  12. spring — of water
  13. court — of a king
  14. net — in sport
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — a coil
  17. net — for catching
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. court — for sport
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mark — a grade

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