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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. court — for sport
  4. face — to point toward
  5. staff — employees
  6. content — the amount
  7. squash — the sport
  8. face — part of the head
  9. rock — music
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rock — a stone
  14. content — happy
  15. cold — an illness
  16. staff — a stick
  17. staff — employees
  18. kid — child
  19. squash — to crush
  20. court — of law
  21. cold — not warm
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. face — to confront
  24. kid — to tease

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