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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. season — of the year
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of a king
  6. chest — of your body
  7. dip — to sink
  8. drill — the tool
  9. fall — the season
  10. cold — an illness
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. drill — army training
  13. season — in sport
  14. fall — to drop
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fall — to drop
  17. rash — a series
  18. cold — not warm
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. chest — a box
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. court — of law

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