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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: cold · last · pitcher · spell · stand · squash · court · present

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. present — a gift
  3. court — of a king
  4. court — of law
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. court — for sport
  7. spell — a short time
  8. last — final
  9. spell — letters
  10. cold — an illness
  11. last — finally
  12. spell — magic
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. stand — to bear
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. present — the time now
  18. last — to go on
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. present — there
  22. cold — not warm
  23. squash — the sport
  24. pitcher — a jug

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