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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. court — of a king
  3. mug — to rob
  4. mug — a face
  5. march — music
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. court — of law
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. game — a match
  12. swing — music
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. march — the month
  15. swing — in golf
  16. game — wild animals
  17. march — the month
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. mug — a cup
  20. hand — in cards
  21. fall — to drop
  22. swing — to play on
  23. court — for sport
  24. hand — help

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