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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. dip — to sink
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. court — for sport
  5. cold — not warm
  6. plane — a tool
  7. swing — in golf
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. capital — money
  12. swing — to play on
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chip — for betting
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. cell — a phone
  17. chip — to eat
  18. court — of a king
  19. cell — in biology
  20. capital — a city
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. swing — music
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. court — of law

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