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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  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. court — for sport
  2. degree — from a university
  3. chest — of your body
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. degree — an amount
  7. court — of law
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. rest — what's left
  10. chest — a box
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. chest — of your body
  13. rest — a break
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. degree — temperature
  17. rest — what's left
  18. saw — the tool
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — to confront
  21. sharp — clever
  22. saw — the tool
  23. face — part of the head
  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