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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. track — to keep track
  3. track — a song
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. court — for sport
  7. snap — to click
  8. pop — soda
  9. track — a path
  10. pop — music
  11. ball — a great time
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. ball — a dance
  14. wound — an injury
  15. chair — a leader
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tear — from crying
  18. court — of law
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wound — an injury
  23. court — of a king
  24. chair — to sit on

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