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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. court — of a king
  5. row — to paddle
  6. ground — crushed
  7. fine — all right
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. ground — the earth
  10. stand — to bear
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. ground — a position
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. cold — not warm
  16. court — of law
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. court — for sport
  23. fine — high quality
  24. row — a line

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