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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. dip — to sink
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. cell — in biology
  11. march — the month
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. court — of law
  15. court — of a king
  16. mark — a trace
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. mark — a grade
  20. court — for sport
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hand — help

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