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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 · season · calf · sharp · cold · squash · can · tear

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. court — of law
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cold — an illness
  10. court — of a king
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. can — a tin
  13. squash — to crush
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. tear — to rip
  16. court — for sport
  17. season — in sport
  18. can — a tin
  19. sharp — clever
  20. squash — the sport
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. can — to be able to
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. season — of the year

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