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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. spell — letters
  4. court — of law
  5. ball — a dance
  6. spell — magic
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. spell — a short time
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. ground — crushed
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. pound — a weight
  13. tear — from crying
  14. ground — the earth
  15. stock — goods
  16. stock — shares
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. ball — a great time
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. court — of a king
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. ground — a position

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