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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: arm · tear · season · court · dip · bat · net · ball

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. court — for sport
  3. net — in sport
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. net — for catching
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. tear — to rip
  8. season — of the year
  9. dip — to sink
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. tear — from crying
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. net — after costs
  14. season — in sport
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. court — of law
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. bat — the animal
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. ball — a dance
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. ball — a great time
  24. court — of a king

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