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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. kid — to tease
  3. court — of law
  4. court — for sport
  5. bat — the animal
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. kid — child
  8. court — of a king
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. file — a document
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. file — a line of people
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. file — a tool
  18. coach — a trainer

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