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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. rule — government
  5. rule — a law
  6. ground — crushed
  7. squash — the sport
  8. pit — a hole
  9. court — of a king
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. ground — the earth
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. ground — a position
  14. shower — rain
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. court — for sport
  18. pit — in a race
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — in sport
  22. squash — to crush
  23. net — after costs
  24. squash — the vegetable

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