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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bass — low music
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. pop — music
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. kid — child
  7. file — a tool
  8. snap — to click
  9. file — a line of people
  10. kick — in football
  11. court — of a king
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. court — of law
  16. bass — the fish
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. court — for sport
  19. pop — soda
  20. kid — to tease
  21. file — a document
  22. pop — to visit
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. kick — with a leg

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