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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. court — of law
  3. court — for sport
  4. chest — of your body
  5. game — wild animals
  6. degree — an amount
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. chest — a box
  12. cold — an illness
  13. degree — temperature
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. stand — to bear
  18. cold — not warm
  19. game — a match
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. degree — from a university
  22. chest — of your body
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. court — of a king

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