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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  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. ground — the earth
  2. cold — not warm
  3. club — for dancing
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. shower — to wash
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — rain
  8. court — for sport
  9. sharp — clever
  10. club — for golf
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. club — a group
  15. court — of a king
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — crushed
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. court — of law
  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