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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. ball — a dance
  4. staff — employees
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. snap — to click
  7. last — finally
  8. land — a country
  9. last — final
  10. staff — a stick
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. last — to go on
  13. land — to come down
  14. court — of law
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. land — ground
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. roll — a cake
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. staff — employees
  23. ball — a great time
  24. roll — a list

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