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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 · court · sharp · chest · spell · rush · foot · bear

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. court — of a king
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rush — hurry
  8. cold — not warm
  9. court — of law
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. cold — an illness
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — a short time
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. foot — a measure
  18. bear — the animal
  19. spell — letters
  20. court — for sport
  21. chest — a box
  22. sharp — clever
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. foot — part of the body

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