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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. court — of a king
  3. suit — clothes
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. suit — to fit
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. saw — the tool
  9. game — wild animals
  10. snap — to click
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. saw — the tool
  13. court — of law
  14. suit — in cards
  15. court — for sport
  16. tube — a container
  17. shower — to wash
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — to tease
  20. game — a match
  21. tube — the underground
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. shower — rain
  24. kid — child

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