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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 120 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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — to come down
  3. court — for sport
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. content — the amount
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bass — the fish
  8. fall — to drop
  9. court — of law
  10. bass — low music
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — a position
  13. season — in sport
  14. fall — the season
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — happy
  17. season — of the year
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. fall — to drop
  20. court — of a king
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. land — a country
  24. temple — side of the head

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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