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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. ground — a position
  3. court — of law
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. spell — a short time
  6. spell — letters
  7. cell — a phone
  8. ground — crushed
  9. spell — magic
  10. club — for dancing
  11. dip — to sink
  12. kick — in football
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. club — for golf
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. club — a group
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. ground — the earth
  24. court — for sport

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