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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. spell — a short time
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. craft — a skill
  8. craft — boats
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. cell — a phone
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cell — in biology
  13. court — for sport
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. pitch — completely
  18. bat — the animal
  19. spell — magic
  20. court — of a king
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. spell — letters
  24. cell — in a prison

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