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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: wave · squash · net · court · file · cap · tube · land

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. cap — a hat
  3. court — for sport
  4. file — a line of people
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — a container
  7. cap — a lid
  8. land — ground
  9. net — in sport
  10. land — to come down
  11. file — a tool
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. file — a document
  14. court — of law
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. cap — of ice
  19. land — a country
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. court — of a king
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. net — for catching
  24. wave — of the sea

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