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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. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. ground — crushed
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. court — of law
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — a position
  11. pound — a weight
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — for catching
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. court — of a king
  19. shower — rain
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. net — in sport
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. cold — not warm

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