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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. track — a song
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. court — of a king
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. track — a path
  8. lean — to bend
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. cold — an illness
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bear — the animal
  13. degree — an amount
  14. shower — rain
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bear — the animal
  17. shower — to wash
  18. degree — temperature
  19. cold — not warm
  20. degree — from a university
  21. tear — to rip
  22. lean — thin
  23. court — for sport
  24. track — to keep track

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