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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. ball — a dance
  3. season — of the year
  4. net — after costs
  5. craft — boats
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. ball — a great time
  8. bark — to shout
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. court — for sport
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. net — for catching
  13. season — in sport
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. net — in sport
  19. craft — a skill
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — of law
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a line
  24. racket — a loud noise

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