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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 124 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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. plane — a tool
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. court — for sport
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. shower — rain
  11. season — in sport
  12. season — of the year
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. court — of law
  17. deal — to handle
  18. shower — to wash
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. cold — not warm
  21. content — happy
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. content — the amount
  24. cold — an illness

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