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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 116 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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. court — for sport
  4. track — to keep track
  5. mate — to breed
  6. last — to go on
  7. court — of a king
  8. net — for catching
  9. mine — for digging
  10. cold — not warm
  11. track — a song
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cue — for pool
  14. mate — a partner
  15. last — finally
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. track — a path
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — after costs
  20. mate — a friend
  21. last — final
  22. cue — a hint
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. cue — a signal

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