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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 116 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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. squash — to crush
  3. squash — the sport
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. court — for sport
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — to drop
  8. court — of a king
  9. chair — a leader
  10. net — for catching
  11. degree — an amount
  12. net — in sport
  13. degree — temperature
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. fall — the season
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. ball — a great time
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. ball — a dance
  20. degree — from a university
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. court — of law

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