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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. root — of a word
  4. ball — a dance
  5. fine — high quality
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. chest — of your body
  12. court — for sport
  13. court — of a king
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wake — a trail
  16. root — of a plant
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. chest — a box
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. pound — a weight
  21. court — of law
  22. root — the cause
  23. ball — a great time
  24. fine — a penalty

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