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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. net — after costs
  3. rest — what's left
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rest — a break
  6. fine — all right
  7. court — of law
  8. fine — high quality
  9. net — in sport
  10. track — to keep track
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. track — a path
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. rest — what's left
  16. court — of a king
  17. dip — to sink
  18. cold — not warm
  19. track — a song
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cold — an illness
  22. net — for catching
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. court — for sport

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