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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. cap — a lid
  4. court — of a king
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cap — a hat
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. root — the cause
  9. court — of law
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. wind — moving air
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. wake — a trail
  14. root — of a word
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. cap — of ice
  17. root — of a plant
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. court — for sport
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. sharp — clever

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