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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. scale — in music
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. court — for sport
  6. scale — size or range
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. net — for catching
  9. land — ground
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — after costs
  12. land — to come down
  13. rule — government
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. court — of a king
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — child
  21. fork — in a road
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. land — a country
  24. rule — a 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