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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — of law
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pit — a hole
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. ball — a great time
  9. court — for sport
  10. cold — an illness
  11. root — of a plant
  12. chest — a box
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. pit — in a race
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. stock — shares
  20. stock — goods
  21. root — the cause
  22. saw — the tool
  23. ball — a dance
  24. root — of a word

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