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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. court — for sport
  3. net — after costs
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. game — a match
  6. bat — the animal
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — in sport
  10. last — final
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. court — of law
  13. spell — a short time
  14. spell — magic
  15. club — for dancing
  16. game — wild animals
  17. last — finally
  18. court — of a king
  19. spell — letters
  20. club — for golf
  21. kick — in football
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. club — a group

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