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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 120 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. snap — to click
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. court — for sport
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. content — happy
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. vault — a safe
  16. pitch — completely
  17. content — the amount
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. wake — a trail
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. court — of law
  24. court — of a king

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