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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 116 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 hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. march — music
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. net — for catching
  5. net — after costs
  6. swing — to play on
  7. kid — to tease
  8. march — the month
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. march — the month
  11. court — for sport
  12. game — a match
  13. court — of a king
  14. net — in sport
  15. game — wild animals
  16. tube — a container
  17. tube — the underground
  18. swing — in golf
  19. kid — child
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. court — of law
  24. swing — music

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