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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: lie · court · ground · cold · suit · chest · season · bat

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. suit — clothes
  3. suit — to fit
  4. chest — of your body
  5. lie — to recline
  6. ground — the earth
  7. suit — in cards
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. season — of the year
  10. bat — the animal
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. court — for sport
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chest — of your body
  15. season — in sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. ground — a position
  18. court — of law
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. ground — crushed
  21. cold — not warm
  22. chest — a box
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. cold — the Cold War

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