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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. wound — an injury
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. court — of a king
  7. cap — of ice
  8. bank — for money
  9. bank — for money
  10. court — for sport
  11. bank — of a river
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. pass — a permit
  14. cap — a hat
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wound — an injury
  17. net — in sport
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. cap — a lid
  21. perch — the fish
  22. court — of law
  23. net — for catching
  24. pass — to spend time

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