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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. court — for sport
  3. mark — a trace
  4. court — of a king
  5. bat — the animal
  6. capital — money
  7. kick — in football
  8. court — of law
  9. ground — a position
  10. bass — the fish
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. bass — low music
  15. perch — the fish
  16. ground — the earth
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — a city
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. ground — crushed
  23. mark — a grade
  24. bat — in an idiom

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