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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. court — of law
  3. face — part of the head
  4. cell — a phone
  5. face — to confront
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. court — of a king
  8. bass — the fish
  9. fall — to drop
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. face — to point toward
  12. present — there
  13. cold — an illness
  14. kick — in football
  15. cold — not warm
  16. court — for sport
  17. present — a gift
  18. present — the time now
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. cell — in biology
  24. kick — with a leg

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