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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. last — final
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. spring — the season
  5. shower — rain
  6. court — of law
  7. last — finally
  8. last — to go on
  9. court — of a king
  10. net — after costs
  11. band — a music group
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. spring — a coil
  14. net — for catching
  15. shower — to wash
  16. net — in sport
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to bend
  19. pitch — completely
  20. spring — of water
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. court — for sport
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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