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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. content — happy
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. root — of a plant
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. cell — a phone
  10. drill — a practice
  11. cold — not warm
  12. drill — army training
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. court — for sport
  15. content — the amount
  16. root — the cause
  17. court — of law
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. cell — in biology
  20. root — of a word
  21. drill — the tool
  22. court — of a king
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. stand — to bear

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