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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. court — for sport
  6. cell — a phone
  7. court — of a king
  8. shower — to wash
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. court — of law
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. shower — rain
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. cold — an illness
  23. deal — to handle
  24. cold — the Cold War

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