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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. staff — employees
  5. court — of law
  6. saw — the tool
  7. field — a subject
  8. saw — the tool
  9. court — for sport
  10. fine — high quality
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. staff — a stick
  13. cold — not warm
  14. staff — employees
  15. field — farmland
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fine — all right
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. field — for sport
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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