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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. court — of law
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a tool
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. chair — a leader
  12. wind — moving air
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — not warm
  15. court — for sport
  16. stand — to bear
  17. fall — to drop
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. file — a line of people
  23. court — of a king
  24. fall — the season

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