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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. court — of a king
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. sharp — clever
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. cold — an illness
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. fork — in a road
  13. mark — a grade
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. wound — an injury
  16. court — for sport
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. court — of law
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. mark — a trace

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