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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — for digging
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. fall — to drop
  5. key — in music
  6. court — of a king
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. season — of the year
  10. key — the most important part
  11. key — for a lock
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — the season
  14. court — of law
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. season — in sport
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. band — a music group
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. court — for sport
  23. cold — an illness
  24. band — a ring

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