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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 116 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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — of law
  3. pop — to visit
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bat — the animal
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. pop — music
  14. court — for sport
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. fall — the season
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. pop — soda
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. season — in sport
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. branch — a division
  24. season — of the year

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