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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. land — to come down
  4. press — a publisher
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. rest — what's left
  7. fall — the season
  8. press — to push
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. game — a match
  11. cell — a phone
  12. land — ground
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. press — newspapers
  16. court — of law
  17. rest — a break
  18. land — a country
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — to drop
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. cell — in biology
  24. game — wild animals

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