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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — of law
  5. spell — a short time
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. tear — from crying
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. spell — magic
  13. deal — to handle
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. bat — the animal
  16. net — in sport
  17. spell — letters
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. net — for catching
  21. wound — an injury
  22. tear — from crying
  23. net — after costs
  24. tear — to rip

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