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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 · ball · rash · spell · bat · sharp · hand · cold

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bat — the animal
  4. court — of law
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. ball — a great time
  7. cold — an illness
  8. rash — hasty
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. court — of a king
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. ball — a dance
  13. spell — magic
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. spell — letters
  16. court — for sport
  17. cold — not warm
  18. spell — a short time
  19. rash — a series
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. sharp — clever
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. hand — help

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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