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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. spell — letters
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. stand — to bear
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. key — for a lock
  8. court — of law
  9. hand — in cards
  10. tear — from crying
  11. key — in music
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. tear — to rip
  14. hand — help
  15. season — of the year
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. court — of a king
  18. spell — a short time
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. court — for sport
  22. spell — magic
  23. key — the most important part
  24. season — in 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