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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. kid — to tease
  3. land — ground
  4. band — a ring
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a lid
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. net — for catching
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. kid — child
  11. court — for sport
  12. land — a country
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. net — after costs
  15. court — of a king
  16. cap — a hat
  17. land — to come down
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. lie — to recline
  22. band — a music group
  23. net — in sport
  24. court — of law

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