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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. cell — in biology
  3. mug — a face
  4. court — for sport
  5. capital — money
  6. kid — to tease
  7. cell — a phone
  8. spring — of water
  9. court — of law
  10. court — of a king
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. plane — a tool
  13. rest — what's left
  14. capital — a city
  15. rest — a break
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. rest — what's left
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. kid — child
  24. mug — to rob

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