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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. mine — for digging
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. rest — what's left
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. rest — what's left
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. dip — to sink
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. field — farmland
  12. court — of law
  13. sharp — clever
  14. court — of a king
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. court — for sport
  18. cell — in biology
  19. wake — a trail
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — for sport
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. cell — a phone
  24. mine — an explosive

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