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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. cold — an illness
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. pop — soda
  9. pop — to visit
  10. band — a music group
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — to crush
  14. band — a ring
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. court — of law
  19. cold — not warm
  20. court — for sport
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. pound — a weight
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. pop — music

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