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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. bat — the animal
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. spell — letters
  5. net — after costs
  6. court — of law
  7. cap — a lid
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. spring — the season
  11. court — for sport
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. court — of a king
  14. pitch — completely
  15. net — in sport
  16. cap — a hat
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. spring — of water
  19. spell — magic
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spell — a short time
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. net — for catching

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