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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. cold — an illness
  3. court — of a king
  4. cold — not warm
  5. shower — rain
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. file — a line of people
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. court — for sport
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. current — of water
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. chest — of your body
  17. current — happening now
  18. court — of law
  19. stem — to come from
  20. chest — of your body
  21. current — electric
  22. chest — a box
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. cold — the Cold War

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