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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. cold — an illness
  6. court — of a king
  7. court — of law
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. stand — to bear
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. shower — rain
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. shower — to wash
  14. bound — obliged
  15. game — a match
  16. bound — certain
  17. bound — tied together
  18. cold — not warm
  19. game — wild animals
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. court — for sport
  24. racket — for tennis

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