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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. court — of a king
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. court — of law
  6. last — final
  7. net — for catching
  8. land — a country
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. last — finally
  11. court — for sport
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. land — to come down
  14. season — of the year
  15. last — to go on
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. rush — hurry
  18. can — a tin
  19. can — to be able to
  20. can — a tin
  21. bat — the animal
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. season — in sport
  24. season — to add flavour

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