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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 116 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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — soda
  4. court — for sport
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. track — a song
  7. court — of law
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bat — the animal
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. track — a path
  18. pop — to visit
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. kid — child
  23. court — of a king
  24. sharp — with an edge

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