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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: court · bat · stick · cold · straw · can · root · foot

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. can — a tin
  3. cold — an illness
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. can — a tin
  6. court — of law
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. court — for sport
  11. cold — not warm
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. root — of a word
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. root — of a plant
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. foot — a measure
  21. root — the cause
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. court — of a king
  24. can — to be able to

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