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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — in biology
  3. court — for sport
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bound — certain
  7. court — of law
  8. clip — a video
  9. face — part of the head
  10. cell — a phone
  11. face — to point toward
  12. clip — to cut
  13. lean — thin
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. bound — obliged
  18. lean — to bend
  19. kid — to tease
  20. face — to confront
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. court — of a king
  24. kid — child

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