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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. court — for sport
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. face — to confront
  7. land — to come down
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. court — of a king
  10. season — of the year
  11. pop — to visit
  12. pop — soda
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. hand — help
  15. land — a country
  16. face — to point toward
  17. hand — in cards
  18. pop — music
  19. mine — for digging
  20. face — part of the head
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pit — a hole
  23. court — of law
  24. season — in sport

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