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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. court — of a king
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wake — a trail
  7. scale — in music
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. scale — size or range
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. hand — in cards
  16. chest — a box
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. court — of law
  24. chest — of your body

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