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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. court — of a king
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. court — for sport
  5. game — a match
  6. game — wild animals
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. spring — a coil
  14. court — of law
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. bat — the animal
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. pit — in a race
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — the season
  24. bear — the animal

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