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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: fork · wind · court · mark · hide · bowl · cell · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. mark — a trace
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. mark — a grade
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of a king
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wind — moving air
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. fork — in a road
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. court — of law
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. cell — a phone
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. wind — moving air

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