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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. press — to push
  3. court — of law
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. rash — hasty
  6. rash — a series
  7. press — a publisher
  8. rest — what's left
  9. plane — a tool
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wound — an injury
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. rest — what's left
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. bat — the animal
  19. press — newspapers
  20. stem — to come from
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. rest — a break
  23. wound — an injury
  24. court — of a king

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