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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. court — for sport
  3. club — for golf
  4. hand — help
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. mine — for digging
  8. hand — in cards
  9. rash — a series
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. cold — an illness
  14. club — a group
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. court — of a king
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. court — of law
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. club — for dancing
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. cold — not warm
  23. rash — hasty
  24. mine — an explosive

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