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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
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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: fan · court · mine · craft · cold · track · net · perch

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. perch — the fish
  7. track — to keep track
  8. cold — not warm
  9. net — after costs
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. net — in sport
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. court — of law
  15. cold — an illness
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. craft — a skill
  18. court — for sport
  19. track — a path
  20. net — for catching
  21. track — a song
  22. craft — boats
  23. court — of a king
  24. perch — for a bird

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