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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. present — there
  3. shower — to wash
  4. can — a tin
  5. shower — rain
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. court — for sport
  8. present — a gift
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. squash — the sport
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. can — a tin
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. present — the time now
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — to play on
  20. squash — to crush
  21. court — of law
  22. can — to be able to
  23. swing — music
  24. arm — part of the body

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