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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. court — of a king
  4. mate — a partner
  5. net — in sport
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. land — a country
  8. court — for sport
  9. land — ground
  10. court — of law
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mate — a friend
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. game — wild animals
  15. land — to come down
  16. game — a match
  17. net — for catching
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. wound — an injury
  21. mate — to breed
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. chair — a leader
  24. net — after costs

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