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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. band — a ring
  3. rule — a law
  4. court — for sport
  5. chest — of your body
  6. mine — for digging
  7. band — a music group
  8. cell — in biology
  9. season — of the year
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. chest — a box
  15. season — in sport
  16. rule — government
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. cell — a phone
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. court — of law
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. band — a rubber band

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