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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. last — final
  7. court — of a king
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. face — part of the head
  10. court — of law
  11. face — to confront
  12. roll — a cake
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. face — to point toward
  15. mark — a grade
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. last — finally
  18. pass — a permit
  19. court — for sport
  20. scale — in music
  21. mark — a trace
  22. roll — a list
  23. last — to go on
  24. scale — size or range

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