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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. present — there
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. present — the time now
  5. ball — a great time
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. ball — a dance
  10. present — a gift
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. court — of a king
  13. shower — rain
  14. mate — to breed
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. net — for catching
  17. mate — a partner
  18. net — after costs
  19. court — of law
  20. sharp — clever
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. mate — a friend
  23. court — for sport
  24. net — in sport

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