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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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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: pit · roll · court · board · wound · tear · cell · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. court — for sport
  3. roll — a list
  4. pit — in a race
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cell — in biology
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. cell — a phone
  10. board — to get on
  11. tear — from crying
  12. pit — a hole
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. tear — to rip
  15. court — of law
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. roll — a cake
  19. board — a committee
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. court — of a king

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