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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. roll — a cake
  4. spell — letters
  5. press — to push
  6. spell — a short time
  7. rule — government
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. court — of law
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. roll — a list
  14. court — for sport
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. rule — a law
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. press — newspapers
  20. file — a tool
  21. press — a publisher
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. spell — magic

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