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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. cold — the Cold War
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. cold — not warm
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. mate — a partner
  8. content — the amount
  9. foot — a measure
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mate — to breed
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. wound — an injury
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. court — of a king
  18. mate — a friend
  19. court — of law
  20. court — for sport
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. content — happy
  23. cold — an illness
  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