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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. fall — the season
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. fall — to drop
  9. capital — a city
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. court — of a king
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. perch — the fish
  19. fall — to drop
  20. capital — money
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. court — of law
  23. bat — the animal
  24. perch — for a bird

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