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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 bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. game — a match
  4. court — for sport
  5. ground — crushed
  6. cell — a phone
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. ground — the earth
  9. key — for a lock
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — for digging
  12. court — of a king
  13. object — to protest
  14. game — wild animals
  15. court — of law
  16. key — in music
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. object — an aim
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. key — the most important part
  22. ground — a position
  23. cell — in biology
  24. object — a thing

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