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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. face — to confront
  3. court — of a king
  4. cell — in biology
  5. mate — a friend
  6. root — of a word
  7. mate — to breed
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. season — of the year
  10. face — part of the head
  11. cold — not warm
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. season — in sport
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. court — for sport
  17. mate — a partner
  18. root — the cause
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. court — of law
  21. root — of a plant
  22. face — to point toward
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cell — a phone

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