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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. rule — government
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. field — farmland
  6. court — of a king
  7. rest — what's left
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. field — for sport
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rule — a law
  13. court — of law
  14. net — for catching
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — in sport
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. field — a subject
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. rest — a break
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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