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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  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. snap — to click
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. pitch — completely
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. net — in sport
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. court — of a king
  11. date — the fruit
  12. pound — a weight
  13. court — for sport
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. bat — the animal
  17. mine — for digging
  18. court — of law
  19. net — after costs
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. mine — an explosive
  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