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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 116 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 had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. kid — child
  3. ball — a great time
  4. ground — the earth
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of law
  7. kid — to tease
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. ground — crushed
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. spell — magic
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. face — to confront
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. spell — letters
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. ground — a position
  18. game — a match
  19. spell — a short time
  20. face — to point toward
  21. game — wild animals
  22. court — of a king
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ball — a dance

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