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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. spell — magic
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. last — to go on
  6. cold — not warm
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wind — moving air
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. capital — money
  12. last — finally
  13. capital — a city
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. spell — a short time
  16. court — of a king
  17. spell — letters
  18. cold — an illness
  19. court — of law
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. rush — hurry
  22. last — final
  23. wind — moving air
  24. rush — a thrill

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