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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 116 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 ball is in your ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. court — for sport
  3. dip — to sink
  4. chair — a leader
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — farmland
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. court — of law
  10. sharp — clever
  11. craft — a skill
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. bear — the animal
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. field — for sport
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. court — of a king
  23. craft — boats
  24. bear — the animal

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