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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'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. spring — a coil
  4. cold — not warm
  5. charge — a price
  6. court — of law
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. court — of a king
  11. charge — electricity
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. court — for sport
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. cue — for pool
  16. spring — the season
  17. cue — a signal
  18. cold — an illness
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. kick — in football
  21. spring — of water
  22. pound — a weight
  23. charge — in control
  24. pitcher — a jug

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