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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. key — the most important part
  3. firm — a company
  4. mate — to breed
  5. court — of a king
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cell — in biology
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. cell — a phone
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. court — of law
  14. firm — steady
  15. firm — decided
  16. mate — a partner
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. key — in music
  20. court — for sport
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. key — for a lock
  23. mate — a friend
  24. coach — a trainer

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