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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. cold — an illness
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. net — for catching
  5. scale — size or range
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. game — wild animals
  9. net — after costs
  10. rest — what's left
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. scale — in music
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. toast — bread
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. date — the fruit
  19. rest — a break
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. game — a match
  22. rest — what's left
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. pitcher — a jug

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