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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. rest — a break
  3. ground — crushed
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. rest — what's left
  6. ground — a position
  7. court — of a king
  8. fall — to drop
  9. court — of law
  10. spell — letters
  11. net — for catching
  12. fall — to drop
  13. band — a ring
  14. band — a music group
  15. fall — the season
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. spell — a short time
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. rest — what's left
  21. court — for sport
  22. ground — the earth
  23. spell — magic
  24. net — in sport

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