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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. court — of law
  3. spring — a coil
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. foot — a measure
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. game — a match
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. spring — of water
  18. pound — a weight
  19. court — for sport
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. spring — the season
  23. game — wild animals
  24. court — of a king

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