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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. court — of law
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. court — for sport
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. cold — an illness
  12. court — of a king
  13. cold — not warm
  14. sharp — clever
  15. tube — a container
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. pitch — completely
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. tube — the underground
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. bore — to drill
  24. bore — to tire

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