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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. court — of a king
  6. march — the month
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. march — the month
  10. scale — size or range
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. court — for sport
  13. game — wild animals
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. march — music
  16. rush — hurry
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. scale — in music
  21. game — a match
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. cold — not warm
  24. court — of law

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