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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. prune — to trim
  5. field — for sport
  6. cold — an illness
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. prune — to trim
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. ball — a great time
  11. court — of a king
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. net — for catching
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of law
  17. ball — a dance
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. net — in sport
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. cold — not warm
  23. net — after costs
  24. deal — to handle

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