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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: fan · perch · squash · court · net · row · land · race

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — to come down
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. row — a line
  6. court — of a king
  7. squash — to crush
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. court — for sport
  10. net — for catching
  11. perch — the fish
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. squash — the sport
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. row — to paddle
  18. race — humankind
  19. race — a contest
  20. land — ground
  21. court — of law
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. race — the arms race
  24. perch — for a bird

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