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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. court — of a king
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. march — the month
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. march — music
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cap — a hat
  12. court — for sport
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bear — the animal
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cap — of ice
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. court — of law
  19. cap — a lid
  20. bear — the animal
  21. march — the month
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cold — not warm
  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