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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: pound · present · bear · stand · cue · clip · cold · court

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. bear — the animal
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. cue — for pool
  7. clip — to cut
  8. present — there
  9. present — a gift
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. court — of a king
  12. cue — a hint
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. cold — not warm
  15. present — the time now
  16. pound — a weight
  17. cue — a signal
  18. clip — for paper
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. clip — a video
  22. stand — to bear
  23. bear — the animal
  24. pound — to hit hard

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