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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · mug · cold · court · kick · press · scale · dip

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. mug — to rob
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. mug — a cup
  5. court — of a king
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. game — a match
  9. dip — to sink
  10. scale — in music
  11. game — wild animals
  12. mug — a face
  13. press — a publisher
  14. press — to push
  15. court — for sport
  16. cold — not warm
  17. kick — in football
  18. press — newspapers
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. cold — an illness
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — for weighing

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