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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. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. game — a match
  5. bound — obliged
  6. fall — to drop
  7. court — of a king
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. court — for sport
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bound — certain
  13. cold — an illness
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. bound — tied together
  16. fall — the season
  17. game — wild animals
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. court — of law
  24. stand — to bear

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