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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. court — for sport
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bore — to drill
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. key — for a lock
  9. court — of law
  10. bore — to tire
  11. cold — not warm
  12. sharp — clever
  13. key — the most important part
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — size or range
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — goods
  18. court — of a king
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. key — in music
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. sharp — with an edge

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