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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. root — of a word
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. date — the fruit
  7. spell — letters
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. court — of law
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. spell — a short time
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. spell — magic
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. file — a tool
  17. court — for sport
  18. file — a line of people
  19. root — of a plant
  20. file — a document
  21. root — the cause
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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