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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 124 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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. court — for sport
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. cold — not warm
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. land — a country
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. pit — a hole
  11. object — to protest
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. object — an aim
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. cold — an illness
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. land — to come down
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — of law
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pit — in a race
  24. land — ground

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