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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. degree — from a university
  5. court — of a king
  6. squash — the sport
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. hand — in cards
  16. squash — to crush
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — help
  19. court — of law
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. court — for sport
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. cold — an illness

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