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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 116 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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. court — for sport
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. rest — a break
  7. object — to protest
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. cell — a phone
  11. court — of a king
  12. net — after costs
  13. cell — in biology
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. net — in sport
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. rest — what's left
  19. court — of law
  20. object — a thing
  21. pitch — completely
  22. rest — what's left
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. net — for catching

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