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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. face — part of the head
  8. kick — in football
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. roll — a list
  11. face — to point toward
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. land — ground
  14. wax — to grow
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. face — to confront
  18. roll — a cake
  19. row — a line
  20. court — for sport
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. row — to paddle
  24. court — of law

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