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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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bank — of a river
  3. bank — for money
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. perch — the fish
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. field — farmland
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bank — for money
  13. field — a subject
  14. cold — not warm
  15. court — of a king
  16. field — for sport
  17. cold — an illness
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. court — of law
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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