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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cell — a phone
  4. track — a song
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. court — of law
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. perch — the fish
  13. cold — not warm
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. capital — a city
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. capital — money
  19. track — to keep track
  20. track — a path
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. court — of a king
  24. court — for sport

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