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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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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: scale · rest · ground · court · straw · cold

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. ground — crushed
  4. court — for sport
  5. ground — the earth
  6. court — of law
  7. rest — a break
  8. court — of a king
  9. rest — what's left
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — size or range
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rest — what's left
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. cold — an illness
  18. ground — a position

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