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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. face — part of the head
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. court — of law
  6. clip — to cut
  7. face — to confront
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. last — final
  10. last — finally
  11. face — to point toward
  12. court — for sport
  13. plane — a tool
  14. last — to go on
  15. clip — a video
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — child
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. clip — for paper
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. kid — to tease
  24. patient — a sick person

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