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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. court — of law
  4. court — for sport
  5. present — the time now
  6. cold — an illness
  7. face — to point toward
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. pit — a hole
  10. present — there
  11. pit — in a race
  12. present — a gift
  13. content — happy
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. content — the amount
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. face — to confront
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. hand — in cards
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. face — part of the head

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