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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 124 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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of a king
  3. craft — boats
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. stand — to bear
  9. track — to keep track
  10. court — of law
  11. craft — a skill
  12. track — a song
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. kid — child
  15. ground — crushed
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. cold — not warm
  19. ground — a position
  20. kid — to tease
  21. ground — the earth
  22. track — a path
  23. cold — an illness
  24. stand — for spectators

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