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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. court — of law
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. shower — to wash
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. firm — decided
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. court — for sport
  13. court — of a king
  14. land — a country
  15. land — ground
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. scale — size or range
  18. firm — steady
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. land — to come down
  21. scale — in music
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. shower — rain
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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