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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. stand — to bear
  3. shower — to wash
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. court — of a king
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. kid — child
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. game — a match
  13. court — of law
  14. capital — a city
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. tear — from crying
  17. shower — rain
  18. tear — to rip
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. capital — money
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. game — wild animals
  23. court — for sport
  24. tear — from crying

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