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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. kick — in football
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. court — for sport
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cold — not warm
  8. present — the time now
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. cold — an illness
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cell — a phone
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — finally
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. foot — a measure
  18. present — a gift
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. court — of law
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. present — there
  24. court — of a king

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