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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. cold — not warm
  3. object — a thing
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wound — an injury
  6. net — in sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. plane — a tool
  9. object — to protest
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. cold — an illness
  12. net — for catching
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. court — for sport
  16. cell — a phone
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. stand — to bear
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. object — an aim
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. net — after costs

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