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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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. capital — a big letter
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. face — part of the head
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. court — of law
  19. court — of a king
  20. face — to point toward
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. fan — to cool the air

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