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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. court — of law
  4. court — for sport
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. date — the fruit
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. charge — a price
  9. cold — an illness
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. kick — in football
  13. fork — in a road
  14. court — of a king
  15. charge — electricity
  16. shower — rain
  17. charge — in control
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. cold — not warm
  21. branch — a division
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. date — on the calendar

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