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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: object · club · mine · cold · net · court · board · land

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. object — to protest
  4. object — an aim
  5. object — a thing
  6. club — a group
  7. cold — an illness
  8. land — ground
  9. cold — not warm
  10. club — for golf
  11. net — in sport
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. court — of a king
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. club — for dancing
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — to get on
  18. net — after costs
  19. court — of law
  20. mine — for digging
  21. board — a committee
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — a country
  24. court — for 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