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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 120 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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of a king
  3. cold — not warm
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. rash — a series
  7. cap — of ice
  8. current — electric
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. stand — to bear
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. current — of water
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. cap — a hat
  19. court — of law
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. rash — hasty
  23. current — happening now
  24. cap — a lid

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