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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — a break
  7. suit — clothes
  8. fall — the season
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. suit — in cards
  11. court — of a king
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — help
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cold — an illness
  16. court — of law
  17. cold — not warm
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. court — for sport
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. rest — what's left
  22. fall — to drop
  23. suit — to fit
  24. fall — to drop

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