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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. root — of a word
  4. content — the amount
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. ball — a great time
  8. last — final
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. last — to go on
  11. root — of a plant
  12. root — the cause
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. court — for sport
  15. season — in sport
  16. face — to confront
  17. face — to point toward
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — of law
  20. face — part of the head
  21. content — happy
  22. season — of the year
  23. last — finally
  24. season — to add flavour

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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