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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. root — of a plant
  4. net — after costs
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. net — in sport
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. court — of law
  10. fall — the season
  11. court — for sport
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. rash — a series
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. root — the cause
  16. root — of a word
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. bat — the animal
  19. fall — to drop
  20. kick — in football
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. fall — to drop
  23. net — for catching
  24. rash — hasty

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