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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. dip — to sink
  3. rest — a break
  4. prune — to trim
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. court — of law
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cold — not warm
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. rest — what's left
  13. saw — the tool
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. court — of a king
  18. mine — for digging
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. saw — the tool
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rest — what's left
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. dip — to dunk

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