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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. court — for sport
  3. land — a country
  4. cue — a hint
  5. court — of law
  6. tear — from crying
  7. court — of a king
  8. face — to confront
  9. land — to come down
  10. prune — to trim
  11. face — to point toward
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. tear — to rip
  15. prune — to trim
  16. kid — to tease
  17. face — part of the head
  18. kid — child
  19. cue — for pool
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. cue — a signal
  22. land — ground
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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