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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. court — of law
  3. cold — not warm
  4. chip — to eat
  5. fall — to drop
  6. lean — to bend
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. toast — bread
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. cold — an illness
  12. net — for catching
  13. net — in sport
  14. fall — the season
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. court — of a king
  17. fall — to drop
  18. court — for sport
  19. chip — for betting
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — the tool
  22. lean — thin
  23. drill — a practice
  24. cold — the Cold War

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