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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. land — to come down
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. hand — in cards
  6. court — of a king
  7. land — ground
  8. roll — a cake
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. land — a country
  11. roll — a list
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. drill — army training
  14. prune — to trim
  15. stand — to bear
  16. can — a tin
  17. court — for sport
  18. drill — the tool
  19. prune — to trim
  20. court — of law
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. can — to be able to
  23. hand — help
  24. drill — a practice

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