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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cell — a phone
  9. court — of a king
  10. rest — a break
  11. squash — to crush
  12. face — part of the head
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. rest — what's left
  16. face — to point toward
  17. rest — what's left
  18. squash — the sport
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bark — to shout
  21. court — of law
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. face — to confront
  24. wind — moving air

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