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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. tear — from crying
  3. key — in music
  4. drill — army training
  5. land — ground
  6. court — for sport
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. drill — the tool
  9. key — for a lock
  10. fall — the season
  11. tear — to rip
  12. cold — an illness
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. land — to come down
  15. craft — a skill
  16. tear — from crying
  17. land — a country
  18. fall — to drop
  19. court — of law
  20. craft — boats
  21. drill — a practice
  22. cold — not warm
  23. key — the most important part
  24. fall — to drop

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