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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — for sport
  4. land — to come down
  5. court — of law
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. bore — to tire
  8. cell — in biology
  9. staff — employees
  10. staff — a stick
  11. shower — rain
  12. game — a match
  13. game — wild animals
  14. land — ground
  15. staff — employees
  16. land — a country
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. dip — to sink
  19. shower — to wash
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. bore — to drill
  23. cell — a phone
  24. dip — to dunk

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