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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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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: race · prune · court · tear · net · cap · fine · ground

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. cap — a lid
  3. fine — high quality
  4. net — after costs
  5. race — the arms race
  6. prune — to trim
  7. tear — from crying
  8. ground — the earth
  9. court — of a king
  10. ground — crushed
  11. court — of law
  12. race — humankind
  13. court — for sport
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — in sport
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. fine — all right
  19. cap — of ice
  20. ground — a position
  21. prune — to trim
  22. tear — from crying
  23. race — a contest
  24. tear — to rip

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