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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. mine — for digging
  5. court — for sport
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. court — of a king
  8. chest — a box
  9. bound — tied together
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. swing — music
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. court — of law
  15. bound — obliged
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. chest — of your body
  19. perch — the fish
  20. bound — certain
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. chest — of your 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