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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wound — an injury
  3. key — for a lock
  4. key — in music
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. pass — a permit
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. key — the most important part
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. rush — hurry
  15. court — of law
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. wound — an injury
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. court — of a king
  24. court — for sport

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