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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. court — for sport
  4. row — a line
  5. hand — in cards
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. land — a country
  8. lean — thin
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. court — of a king
  11. land — to come down
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. pop — music
  15. pop — to visit
  16. bat — the animal
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. court — of law
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. lean — to bend
  22. hand — help
  23. land — ground
  24. pop — soda

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