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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. mate — to breed
  3. court — of law
  4. last — to go on
  5. track — to keep track
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. track — a path
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. court — of a king
  11. mate — a partner
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. capital — a city
  14. last — finally
  15. bat — the animal
  16. last — final
  17. mate — a friend
  18. capital — money
  19. sharp — clever
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. prune — to trim
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. court — for sport
  24. track — a song

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