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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. mate — to breed
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. net — in sport
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. net — for catching
  9. tear — from crying
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. court — of law
  14. toast — bread
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. mate — a partner
  17. tear — from crying
  18. capital — a city
  19. court — of a king
  20. net — after costs
  21. tear — to rip
  22. capital — money
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. mate — a friend

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