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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 116 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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. court — of a king
  3. shower — rain
  4. drill — the tool
  5. court — of law
  6. cold — not warm
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a city
  9. object — a thing
  10. lean — thin
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. lean — to bend
  13. drill — a practice
  14. court — for sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. land — to come down
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. object — an aim
  20. shower — to wash
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. drill — army training
  23. land — a country
  24. object — to protest

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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