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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. net — for catching
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. ground — a position
  7. court — for sport
  8. date — the fruit
  9. net — after costs
  10. cold — not warm
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — crushed
  14. court — of a king
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. net — in sport
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. cold — an illness
  22. court — of law
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. mouse — 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