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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. ball — a great time
  3. file — a line of people
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. file — a document
  6. can — a tin
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. can — a tin
  10. file — a tool
  11. court — of law
  12. ball — a dance
  13. scale — in music
  14. court — for sport
  15. can — to be able to
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — for catching
  18. court — of a king
  19. scale — size or range
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. trunk — of a car

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