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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. game — a match
  3. fall — to drop
  4. court — of a king
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. game — wild animals
  7. staff — employees
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. staff — a stick
  10. net — for catching
  11. fall — the season
  12. court — of law
  13. spell — letters
  14. row — to paddle
  15. net — in sport
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. row — a line
  18. staff — employees
  19. plane — a tool
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. spell — a short time
  22. net — after costs
  23. spell — magic
  24. fall — to drop

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