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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. root — of a word
  3. court — of law
  4. court — of a king
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cap — of ice
  8. club — a group
  9. cold — not warm
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — for catching
  12. root — of a plant
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. plane — a tool
  18. root — the cause
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cap — a hat
  21. court — for sport
  22. club — for golf
  23. sharp — clever
  24. club — for dancing

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