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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. net — in sport
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. pop — to visit
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bear — the animal
  8. band — a ring
  9. bear — the animal
  10. net — for catching
  11. band — a music group
  12. cold — not warm
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. net — after costs
  19. pop — soda
  20. court — of a king
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. pop — music
  23. court — of law
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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