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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. court — for sport
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. kid — child
  5. stand — to bear
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. spring — of water
  10. scale — in music
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. spring — the season
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. court — of law
  15. court — of a king
  16. race — a contest
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. scale — size or range
  19. chair — a leader
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — the arms race

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