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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. court — for sport
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cell — a phone
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. dip — to sink
  11. court — of a king
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitch — completely
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. deal — to handle
  22. court — of law
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. dip — to dunk

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