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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: court · cap · cell · fall · pit · straw

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. cell — a phone
  4. fall — the season
  5. court — of law
  6. court — of a king
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pit — a hole
  10. pit — in a race
  11. cap — of ice
  12. fall — to drop
  13. court — for sport
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cell — in biology
  18. pit — a fruit stone

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