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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. snap — to click
  4. march — the month
  5. court — of a king
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. tear — from crying
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. pop — to visit
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. march — music
  13. rush — hurry
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. pop — music
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. court — of law
  20. tear — from crying
  21. march — the month
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. pop — soda
  24. tear — to rip

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