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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. net — in sport
  3. court — of law
  4. court — of a king
  5. chip — to eat
  6. bound — tied together
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. pound — a weight
  9. chest — a box
  10. bound — obliged
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. spring — of water
  13. chip — for betting
  14. spring — the season
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. court — for sport
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. net — after costs
  20. net — for catching
  21. cap — a lid
  22. cap — a hat
  23. spring — a coil
  24. bound — certain

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