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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. band — a music group
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. cell — in biology
  11. band — a ring
  12. court — of law
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. pit — in a race
  16. dip — to sink
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. ball — a great time
  19. ball — a dance
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pit — a hole
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. court — of a king
  24. bowl — a football final

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