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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. net — in sport
  3. wake — a trail
  4. stand — to bear
  5. cold — not warm
  6. net — after costs
  7. band — a ring
  8. court — of a king
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. rest — a break
  12. rest — what's left
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. cold — an illness
  17. band — a music group
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. court — for sport
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rest — what's left
  24. court — of law

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