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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. court — of law
  3. last — to go on
  4. court — of a king
  5. last — final
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. court — for sport
  10. ground — crushed
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. bat — the animal
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. ground — the earth
  19. last — finally
  20. cell — a phone
  21. ground — a position
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. straw — dry grass

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