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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: season · pound · calf · cold · bowl · hand · plane · court

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. court — of law
  4. hand — help
  5. plane — a tool
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. season — in sport
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. cold — an illness
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. pound — a weight
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. season — of the year
  21. hand — in cards
  22. court — of a king
  23. court — for sport
  24. plane — an aircraft

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