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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. capital — money
  4. court — of a king
  5. cold — not warm
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cold — an illness
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. court — of law
  13. court — for sport
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. present — there
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. plane — a tool
  18. roll — a cake
  19. present — the time now
  20. roll — a list
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. capital — a city

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