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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. court — of law
  3. shower — rain
  4. mug — a face
  5. court — of a king
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. perch — the fish
  8. mug — a cup
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. swing — in golf
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. cold — an illness
  13. key — for a lock
  14. court — for sport
  15. cap — a lid
  16. mug — to rob
  17. key — the most important part
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. key — in music
  20. cap — a hat
  21. swing — to play on
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cold — not warm
  24. swing — music

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