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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. march — the month
  5. fine — all right
  6. court — of a king
  7. fall — the season
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. fall — to drop
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. court — for sport
  13. wound — an injury
  14. march — the month
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cell — a phone
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. fine — high quality
  20. cell — in biology
  21. march — music
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fall — to drop

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