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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. mark — a grade
  3. scale — in music
  4. spring — the season
  5. last — final
  6. spring — of water
  7. kick — in football
  8. chest — of your body
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. scale — size or range
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. court — of law
  13. chest — a box
  14. court — of a king
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — finally
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. saw — the tool
  21. mark — a trace
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. spring — a coil

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