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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. season — in sport
  5. wound — an injury
  6. court — of a king
  7. court — for sport
  8. spell — magic
  9. bat — the animal
  10. land — to come down
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. season — of the year
  13. court — of law
  14. spell — a short time
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. spell — letters
  19. land — ground
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. wound — an injury
  22. land — a country
  23. wake — a trail
  24. season — to add flavour

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