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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. court — of a king
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. last — final
  5. pop — music
  6. last — to go on
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. last — finally
  10. capital — a city
  11. court — for sport
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. pit — a hole
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. pit — in a race
  18. pop — to visit
  19. court — of law
  20. deal — to handle
  21. pop — soda
  22. capital — money
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. temple — a place of worship

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