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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: dip · rock · cold · drill · perch · game · court · deal

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. game — wild animals
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. drill — the tool
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. perch — the fish
  8. rock — music
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. court — of law
  15. dip — to sink
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. drill — a practice
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. cold — not warm
  20. game — a match
  21. court — for sport
  22. drill — army training
  23. deal — to handle
  24. rock — a stone

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