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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. court — of law
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rush — hurry
  6. deal — to handle
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. court — for sport
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. spell — magic
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. prune — to trim
  15. spell — a short time
  16. saw — the tool
  17. spell — letters
  18. prune — to trim
  19. court — of a king
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. prune — the fruit

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