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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. march — music
  3. cap — a hat
  4. court — of law
  5. kid — to tease
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. march — the month
  8. bound — certain
  9. bound — obliged
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — the tool
  13. court — of a king
  14. net — for catching
  15. kid — child
  16. bound — tied together
  17. net — after costs
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cap — of ice
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. net — in sport
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. march — the month

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