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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. fall — to drop
  3. court — of a king
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. rush — hurry
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. fall — the season
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. fall — to drop
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. court — of law
  17. chair — a leader
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bat — the animal
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. court — for sport
  24. cold — an illness

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