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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.

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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: scale · rest · ground · court · straw · cold · spell · shower

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. rest — what's left
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. cold — not warm
  6. court — of a king
  7. cold — an illness
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. scale — in music
  10. shower — rain
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. ground — crushed
  13. ground — a position
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. court — for sport
  16. spell — magic
  17. scale — size or range
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — a break
  20. spell — letters
  21. spell — a short time
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. shower — to wash
  24. court — of law

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