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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 116 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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cold — not warm
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. court — of law
  8. court — of a king
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. bat — the animal
  14. rock — a stone
  15. cold — an illness
  16. rock — music
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. ball — a dance
  22. chair — a leader
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. court — for sport

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