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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. court — for sport
  4. kid — to tease
  5. wake — a trail
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. kid — child
  9. court — of a king
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. court — of law
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cell — in biology
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. bear — the animal
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bear — the animal
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. stand — to bear

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