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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. face — part of the head
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. face — to confront
  8. dip — to sink
  9. court — of law
  10. mug — a cup
  11. foot — a measure
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mug — a face
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. mug — to rob
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. face — to point toward
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. perch — the fish
  24. court — of a king

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