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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 120 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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. march — the month
  3. bound — tied together
  4. ball — a great time
  5. object — to protest
  6. cell — in biology
  7. object — an aim
  8. cell — a phone
  9. court — for sport
  10. bound — obliged
  11. march — the month
  12. field — farmland
  13. court — of law
  14. court — of a king
  15. bound — certain
  16. field — a subject
  17. march — music
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. object — a thing
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. field — for sport

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