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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 would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. bat — the animal
  3. can — a tin
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. court — of a king
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. can — a tin
  11. cold — an illness
  12. game — wild animals
  13. court — for sport
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. toast — bread
  17. spell — a short time
  18. game — a match
  19. cold — not warm
  20. spell — letters
  21. court — of law
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. spell — magic
  24. can — to be able to

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