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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 116 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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. court — of a king
  3. last — to go on
  4. swing — music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. hand — in cards
  7. ground — crushed
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — help
  13. last — final
  14. court — for sport
  15. swing — in golf
  16. cold — an illness
  17. ground — a position
  18. rule — a law
  19. last — finally
  20. court — of law
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. ground — the earth
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rule — government

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