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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. fall — the season
  3. court — of a king
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. court — for sport
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. snap — to click
  8. pit — in a race
  9. cell — a phone
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. drill — a practice
  12. march — music
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. fall — to drop
  15. mug — a cup
  16. mug — to rob
  17. fall — to drop
  18. drill — the tool
  19. cell — in biology
  20. drill — army training
  21. march — the month
  22. court — of law
  23. march — the month
  24. mug — a face

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