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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. court — for sport
  3. fall — to drop
  4. court — of law
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. court — of a king
  7. game — wild animals
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. hand — in cards
  10. fall — to drop
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. hand — help
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. game — a match
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. rush — hurry
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. fall — the season
  23. wound — an injury
  24. deal — to handle

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