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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 120 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. hand — help
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bear — the animal
  7. foot — a measure
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. capital — a city
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. cold — an illness
  12. hand — in cards
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cold — not warm
  16. capital — money
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. court — for sport
  20. court — of a king
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. court — of law
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. foot — part of the body

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