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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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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. kid — to tease
  3. saw — the tool
  4. club — for golf
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. court — of law
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. club — a group
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. club — for dancing
  11. snap — to click
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. kid — child
  14. shower — to wash
  15. court — of a king
  16. saw — the tool
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. shower — rain

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