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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. game — wild animals
  4. net — after costs
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. swing — music
  7. court — for sport
  8. lean — thin
  9. court — of a king
  10. net — for catching
  11. court — of law
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. lean — to bend
  14. pop — soda
  15. swing — to play on
  16. net — in sport
  17. game — a match
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. swing — in golf
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. pop — to visit
  22. pop — music
  23. bass — low music
  24. leaves — of a tree

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