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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bat — the animal
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. tube — the underground
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. mug — to rob
  8. degree — temperature
  9. lie — to recline
  10. court — of a king
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. mug — a face
  13. tube — a container
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. mug — a cup
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. degree — an amount
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. court — of law
  22. degree — from a university
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. pitch — a sports field

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