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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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. net — for catching
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pop — music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. tear — from crying
  10. sharp — clever
  11. net — in sport
  12. court — for sport
  13. pop — soda
  14. court — of a king
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. net — after costs
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. pop — to visit

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