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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. court — for sport
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. march — the month
  6. cold — an illness
  7. perch — the fish
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. row — to paddle
  10. court — of a king
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. tear — from crying
  13. march — music
  14. court — of law
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. march — the month
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cold — not warm
  23. row — a line
  24. row — a quarrel

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