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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. court — for sport
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bound — tied together
  6. rash — hasty
  7. cell — in biology
  8. ground — crushed
  9. face — to point toward
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. face — part of the head
  12. rash — a series
  13. bound — certain
  14. court — of a king
  15. degree — from a university
  16. ground — a position
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cell — a phone
  20. court — of law
  21. face — to confront
  22. bat — the animal
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bound — obliged

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