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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. spell — letters
  3. fall — the season
  4. spell — a short time
  5. band — a ring
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. court — of a king
  8. spell — magic
  9. field — farmland
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. court — of law
  12. field — a subject
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. court — for sport
  16. band — a music group
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cold — not warm
  19. fall — to drop
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. field — for sport
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mouse — the animal

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