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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  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. game — a match
  2. court — of a king
  3. spell — letters
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. cell — in biology
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. wound — an injury
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. bore — to drill
  11. game — wild animals
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. spell — a short time
  14. bore — to tire
  15. race — humankind
  16. spell — magic
  17. race — a contest
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. court — of law
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. race — the arms race
  22. wound — an injury
  23. court — for sport
  24. temple — side of the head

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