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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. court — of a king
  3. ground — a position
  4. ground — crushed
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. key — for a lock
  9. shower — to wash
  10. lean — to bend
  11. lean — thin
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of law
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ground — the earth
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. cold — not warm
  21. shower — rain
  22. key — in music
  23. key — the most important part
  24. patient — a sick person

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