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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cap — a hat
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. cap — a lid
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. face — to confront
  7. can — to be able to
  8. can — a tin
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — a coil
  11. game — wild animals
  12. spring — of water
  13. game — a match
  14. court — of a king
  15. face — to point toward
  16. club — for dancing
  17. can — a tin
  18. dip — to sink
  19. face — part of the head
  20. club — a group
  21. court — of law
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. cap — of ice
  24. club — for golf

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