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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. spell — letters
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. bat — the animal
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. wake — a trail
  11. spell — a short time
  12. court — for sport
  13. cell — in biology
  14. kick — in football
  15. ground — crushed
  16. court — of law
  17. ground — a position
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. ground — the earth
  20. spell — magic
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. court — of a king

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