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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. pit — a hole
  6. pit — in a race
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. wound — an injury
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. court — of law
  15. wake — a trail
  16. land — to come down
  17. court — for sport
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. content — happy
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. court — of a king
  22. content — the amount
  23. wound — an injury
  24. land — a country

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