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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. court — for sport
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. spring — the season
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bass — low music
  10. court — of a king
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. kid — child
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. foot — a measure
  15. court — of law
  16. cell — in biology
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — a coil
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bass — the fish
  22. game — a match
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bass — the instrument

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