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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. court — of law
  5. fine — all right
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. capital — a city
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. fine — high quality
  12. sharp — clever
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. capital — money
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. cold — not warm
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. wax — to grow
  21. court — of a king
  22. court — for sport
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. mouse — the animal

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