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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 116 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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. chip — to eat
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. mark — a trace
  6. row — to paddle
  7. scale — size or range
  8. chip — for betting
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. rest — what's left
  12. scale — in music
  13. court — of a king
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. spell — a short time
  16. row — a line
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — letters
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. rest — what's left
  21. cold — not warm
  22. rest — a break
  23. court — for sport
  24. mark — a grade

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