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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 120 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: cold · mine · safe · perch · object · net · kid · court

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. court — of a king
  5. net — in sport
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. kid — child
  8. court — for sport
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. mine — for digging
  11. cold — an illness
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. court — of law
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. cold — not warm
  18. object — to protest
  19. object — an aim
  20. object — a thing
  21. net — after costs
  22. perch — the fish
  23. kid — to tease
  24. net — for catching

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