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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. plane — a tool
  3. face — part of the head
  4. court — of law
  5. face — to point toward
  6. swing — in golf
  7. cap — a lid
  8. court — of a king
  9. cap — a hat
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a dance
  12. swing — music
  13. cap — of ice
  14. pop — to visit
  15. swing — to play on
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. face — to confront
  20. pop — soda
  21. pop — music
  22. ball — a great time
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. plane — in geometry

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