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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. last — finally
  3. wound — an injury
  4. foot — a measure
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. court — of a king
  8. sharp — clever
  9. last — final
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. capital — a city
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. capital — money
  17. wound — an injury
  18. last — to go on
  19. squash — the sport
  20. squash — to crush
  21. court — of law
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. lash — an eyelash

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