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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 120 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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. spring — a coil
  4. court — of law
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. spring — of water
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. cold — not warm
  18. spring — the season
  19. vault — a safe
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. court — for sport
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. court — of a king

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