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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 116 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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. court — of law
  3. fall — the season
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. court — for sport
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. ground — the earth
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. bass — the fish
  10. fall — to drop
  11. last — final
  12. bass — low music
  13. rest — what's left
  14. ground — crushed
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. ground — a position
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. fall — to drop
  19. rest — what's left
  20. game — wild animals
  21. court — of a king
  22. last — to go on
  23. last — finally
  24. game — a match

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