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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. court — for sport
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. net — after costs
  9. spring — the season
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. track — a path
  12. cold — an illness
  13. track — a song
  14. spring — of water
  15. net — for catching
  16. track — to keep track
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. lean — thin
  19. court — of law
  20. pit — a hole
  21. court — of a king
  22. spring — a coil
  23. lean — to bend
  24. pit — in a race

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