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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 120 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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. band — a music group
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. chip — for betting
  6. court — for sport
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. chip — to eat
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. chest — of your body
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. stand — to bear
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. court — of a king
  16. cold — an illness
  17. chest — of your body
  18. court — of law
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. cold — not warm
  21. band — a ring
  22. chest — a box
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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