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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: mate · court · net · chest · pop · firm · cold · cue

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. chest — a box
  3. cue — a hint
  4. firm — a company
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pop — music
  8. net — for catching
  9. court — of a king
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cue — a signal
  13. pop — to visit
  14. net — in sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. mate — to breed
  17. pop — soda
  18. firm — decided
  19. cold — an illness
  20. firm — steady
  21. net — after costs
  22. mate — a friend
  23. court — of law
  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