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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. sharp — clever
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. pit — a hole
  10. court — of a king
  11. pit — in a race
  12. net — for catching
  13. rest — what's left
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. court — for sport
  17. rest — what's left
  18. bass — low music
  19. net — in sport
  20. rest — a break
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. net — after costs
  23. bass — the fish
  24. straw — dry grass

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