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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. pitch — completely
  8. date — the fruit
  9. court — of law
  10. current — of water
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — for catching
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. current — electric
  15. wound — an injury
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of a king
  18. last — final
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. last — finally
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. current — happening now
  23. wound — an injury
  24. net — after costs

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