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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — for sport
  4. bass — the fish
  5. court — of law
  6. shower — rain
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. roll — a cake
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. capital — a city
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. capital — money
  14. roll — a list
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. ball — a great time
  18. bulb — for light
  19. net — for catching
  20. bulb — for light
  21. shower — to wash
  22. ball — a dance
  23. bass — low music
  24. net — in sport

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