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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. ground — a position
  3. court — for sport
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. tear — to rip
  9. club — for golf
  10. club — a group
  11. tear — from crying
  12. club — for dancing
  13. ground — the earth
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — for digging
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. ground — crushed
  19. tear — from crying
  20. court — of law
  21. swing — in golf
  22. foot — a measure
  23. swing — to play on
  24. swing — music

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