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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: net · racket · ground · mine · game · perch · wake · last

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. mine — for digging
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. net — in sport
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. perch — the fish
  8. ground — crushed
  9. ground — a position
  10. last — to go on
  11. wake — a trail
  12. net — after costs
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. last — final
  17. game — a match
  18. game — wild animals
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. ground — the earth
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. net — for catching
  23. last — finally
  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