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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 water is too ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. hand — in cards
  3. plane — a tool
  4. cold — an illness
  5. hand — help
  6. court — of a king
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. stand — to bear
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. cell — a phone
  11. foot — a measure
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. court — of law
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. court — for sport
  24. plane — in geometry

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