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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. squash — to crush
  3. court — of law
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — a trail
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. squash — the sport
  14. date — the fruit
  15. kick — in football
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. cold — not warm
  18. court — of a king
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. cold — an illness
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bear — the animal

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