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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: court · ruler · bat · cap · land · current · cold · toast

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. current — of water
  3. cap — a hat
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — for sport
  7. current — electric
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. current — happening now
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cap — a lid
  19. land — to come down
  20. court — of law
  21. land — a country
  22. land — ground
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. bat — the animal

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