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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bound — obliged
  4. saw — the tool
  5. court — for sport
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. field — farmland
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. fine — all right
  12. field — for sport
  13. cold — not warm
  14. field — a subject
  15. rush — hurry
  16. bound — certain
  17. bound — tied together
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. fine — high quality
  20. court — of a king
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. saw — the tool
  23. court — of law
  24. cold — an illness

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