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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: deal · fan · court · cold · lean · bat · last · pound

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. lean — thin
  4. bat — the animal
  5. lean — to bend
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. court — of law
  10. court — of a king
  11. last — finally
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pound — a weight
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. last — final
  17. court — for sport
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. cold — an illness
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. last — to go on
  23. deal — to handle
  24. fan — a supporter

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