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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 · current · court · bat · squash · bowl · cap · deal

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a lid
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. cold — not warm
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. current — happening now
  9. court — of law
  10. court — for sport
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. deal — to handle
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. current — electric
  15. court — of a king
  16. squash — to crush
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. squash — the sport
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. current — of water

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