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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. lean — to bend
  4. court — of law
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. spell — letters
  7. kid — to tease
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. net — after costs
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. net — for catching
  13. roll — a list
  14. lean — thin
  15. roll — a cake
  16. kid — child
  17. pass — a permit
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. spell — a short time
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. net — in sport
  24. spell — magic

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