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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 do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. net — in sport
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. net — after costs
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. court — of a king
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. court — for sport
  15. row — to paddle
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. date — the fruit
  18. row — a line
  19. net — for catching
  20. band — a ring
  21. dip — to sink
  22. court — of law
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. band — a music 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