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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: cold · mark · pound · bat · club · hide · court · wound

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. wound — an injury
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pound — a weight
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. mark — a trace
  8. mark — a grade
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. club — for dancing
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. club — a group
  15. club — for golf
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. wound — an injury
  18. court — for sport
  19. cold — an illness
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. bat — the animal
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. hide — to keep secret

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