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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 120 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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. mark — a grade
  3. court — for sport
  4. fall — to drop
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. bat — the animal
  7. ball — a dance
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mark — a trace
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. ball — a great time
  12. dip — to sink
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. fall — to drop
  18. court — of a king
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. fall — the season
  23. court — of law
  24. racket — for tennis

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