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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. net — after costs
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. chest — of your body
  5. court — for sport
  6. saw — the tool
  7. net — in sport
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wind — moving air
  10. chest — a box
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. court — of law
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. wind — moving air
  16. squash — the sport
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. net — for catching
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. hand — help
  22. squash — to crush
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. saw — the tool

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