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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 · pitcher · fan · tube · court · cap · mate · wake

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  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. court — of law
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. court — for sport
  8. mate — to breed
  9. wake — a trail
  10. mate — a friend
  11. court — of a king
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. tube — a container
  18. mate — a partner
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. tube — the underground
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  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