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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. mug — to rob
  3. tear — from crying
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cold — not warm
  8. land — ground
  9. mug — a cup
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mug — a face
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — for sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. craft — a skill
  19. land — a country
  20. tear — to rip
  21. craft — boats
  22. sharp — clever
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. land — to come down

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