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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. land — to come down
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. court — for sport
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. game — wild animals
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. game — a match
  10. stock — goods
  11. land — ground
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. swing — music
  14. face — to confront
  15. court — of a king
  16. swing — to play on
  17. stock — shares
  18. face — to point toward
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. swing — in golf
  21. face — part of the head
  22. land — a country
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. straw — a straw man

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