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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. ground — the earth
  3. court — for sport
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. hand — help
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. ground — crushed
  11. degree — temperature
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. court — of law
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. hand — in cards
  19. ground — a position
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. nail — for a hammer

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