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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 120 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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. shower — to wash
  4. stem — to come from
  5. chest — a box
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. net — in sport
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. shower — rain
  10. chest — of your body
  11. fall — the season
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. net — for catching
  19. fall — to drop
  20. court — of law
  21. court — for sport
  22. chest — of your body
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. fall — to drop

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