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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. sharp — clever
  3. face — to confront
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. court — of a king
  7. wound — an injury
  8. kid — to tease
  9. face — to point toward
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. kid — child
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. court — of law
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. face — part of the head
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. scale — size or range
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. scale — in music
  22. tube — the underground
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. tube — a container

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