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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 116 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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. court — of a king
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — for sport
  9. rest — a break
  10. tear — from crying
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. field — farmland
  14. cell — a phone
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. band — a music group
  20. court — for sport
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rest — what's left
  23. band — a ring
  24. tear — to rip

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