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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. hand — help
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. root — of a word
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wound — an injury
  7. court — of a king
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. root — the cause
  11. root — of a plant
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. court — of law
  14. wound — an injury
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. file — a line of people
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. file — a document
  22. cold — not warm
  23. court — for sport
  24. file — a tool

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