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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 124 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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. face — to point toward
  3. fall — to drop
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. court — of law
  7. face — part of the head
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — ground
  11. court — for sport
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. tear — from crying
  14. fall — to drop
  15. face — to confront
  16. land — a country
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. tear — from crying
  20. court — of a king
  21. tear — to rip
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. fall — the season
  24. spring — of water

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