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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. rest — what's left
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. rest — what's left
  6. wake — a trail
  7. chest — of your body
  8. court — of law
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. saw — the tool
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. saw — the tool
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. court — of a king
  24. court — for sport

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