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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of a king
  3. shower — rain
  4. dip — to sink
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. bear — the animal
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. degree — an amount
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. shower — to wash
  13. degree — from a university
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. cold — not warm
  16. court — of law
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pound — a weight
  19. degree — temperature
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. bear — the animal
  24. dip — to dunk

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