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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. court — for sport
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. perch — the fish
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — after costs
  8. chair — a leader
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. wound — an injury
  11. toast — bread
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. rush — hurry
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. court — of law
  19. wound — an injury
  20. court — of a king
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. clip — for paper
  24. perch — for a bird

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