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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. face — to confront
  3. object — a thing
  4. pit — in a race
  5. object — to protest
  6. content — happy
  7. mug — a cup
  8. court — of law
  9. cell — a phone
  10. mug — to rob
  11. object — an aim
  12. face — to point toward
  13. court — of a king
  14. content — the amount
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. cell — in biology
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. mug — a face
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. pit — a hole
  24. face — part of the head

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