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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. cold — not warm
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. mark — a trace
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. deal — to handle
  9. stand — to bear
  10. club — a group
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. club — for golf
  13. kid — child
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. court — of a king
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. mark — a grade
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. kid — to tease
  23. court — for sport
  24. court — of law

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