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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. ground — a position
  3. cold — an illness
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fall — to drop
  7. court — of law
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. rush — hurry
  11. content — the amount
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. club — for dancing
  14. fall — the season
  15. court — for sport
  16. cold — not warm
  17. club — a group
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. court — of a king
  20. ground — the earth
  21. club — for golf
  22. ground — crushed
  23. fall — to drop
  24. stand — to bear

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