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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 · straw · court · scale · safe · fan · bay · tear

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. court — for sport
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. scale — size or range
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. court — of law
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. scale — in music
  17. cold — not warm
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. cold — an illness
  20. court — of a king
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. tear — from crying
  24. safe — out of danger

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