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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
468
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: trunk · staff · lie · net · game · court · cold · perch

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — the fish
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. court — for sport
  9. lie — to recline
  10. staff — employees
  11. cold — not warm
  12. game — wild animals
  13. court — of law
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. staff — a stick
  16. court — of a king
  17. net — after costs
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. staff — employees
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. cold — an illness
  22. game — a match
  23. net — in sport
  24. lie — an untruth

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