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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. mate — a partner
  4. court — of a king
  5. squash — to crush
  6. bear — the animal
  7. mate — a friend
  8. court — for sport
  9. key — for a lock
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. bat — the animal
  14. key — the most important part
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. cold — not warm
  18. court — of law
  19. bear — the animal
  20. cold — an illness
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. squash — the sport
  23. key — in music
  24. mate — to breed

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