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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  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. stem — to come from
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. court — of law
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. wound — an injury
  9. lean — to bend
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. lean — thin
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. cold — an illness
  20. kick — in football
  21. pass — a permit
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. lean — to rest against
  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