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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. kid — child
  3. scale — in music
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. court — for sport
  6. snap — to click
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. kid — to tease
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. bat — the animal
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. court — of law
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. scale — size or range
  18. bat — for baseball

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