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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. kick — in football
  3. tear — from crying
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. march — music
  6. tear — from crying
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — for sport
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. tear — to rip
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. march — the month
  18. cold — an illness
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. cold — not warm
  21. court — of law
  22. march — the month
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. nail — for a hammer

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