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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. pop — to visit
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. spell — a short time
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. spell — letters
  7. spell — magic
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. shower — rain
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — for sport
  13. pop — music
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. pop — soda
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. court — of law
  18. court — for sport
  19. bound — obliged
  20. bound — certain
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. field — a subject
  23. shower — to wash
  24. bound — tied together

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