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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. spring — of water
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. kick — in football
  8. pop — soda
  9. cold — an illness
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. pop — to visit
  12. wake — a trail
  13. court — of a king
  14. pop — music
  15. spring — a coil
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a leader
  18. court — for sport
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. spring — the season
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. court — of law

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