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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 ball is in your ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. court — for sport
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. ground — the earth
  5. hand — help
  6. rush — hurry
  7. present — the time now
  8. ground — crushed
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. fork — in a road
  11. net — for catching
  12. hand — in cards
  13. court — of a king
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. present — a gift
  16. ground — a position
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — in music
  20. court — of law
  21. net — in sport
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. present — there
  24. fork — to eat with

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