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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: hand · toast · net · last · tear · court · current · pop

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  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. court — for sport
  2. court — of a king
  3. pop — music
  4. net — for catching
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. pop — soda
  7. last — final
  8. last — finally
  9. net — after costs
  10. tear — from crying
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. current — happening now
  13. pop — to visit
  14. hand — in cards
  15. tear — from crying
  16. current — electric
  17. current — of water
  18. court — of law
  19. hand — help
  20. toast — bread
  21. tear — to rip
  22. last — to go on
  23. toast — the most admired
  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