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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 · rule · court · lean · fan · mark · cue · chest

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. cue — a hint
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rule — a law
  6. lean — thin
  7. mark — a trace
  8. chest — a box
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. lean — to bend
  12. court — for sport
  13. cue — for pool
  14. court — of law
  15. cue — a signal
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. court — of a king
  22. rule — government
  23. chest — of your body
  24. fan — a supporter

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