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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  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. court — for sport
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. drill — army training
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. fall — to drop
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. fall — the season
  9. drill — the tool
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a city
  13. drill — a practice
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. ball — a dance
  17. stem — to come from
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. dip — to sink
  20. fall — to drop
  21. ball — a great time
  22. court — of a king
  23. stem — of a plant
  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