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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. court — for sport
  3. land — ground
  4. court — of a king
  5. can — to be able to
  6. file — a tool
  7. can — a tin
  8. net — after costs
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. court — of law
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. file — a document
  14. can — a tin
  15. net — for catching
  16. net — in sport
  17. land — to come down
  18. game — wild animals
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. file — a line of people
  22. game — a match
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. land — a country

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