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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. court — for sport
  3. tear — from crying
  4. court — of a king
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. tear — from crying
  7. hand — help
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — in music
  12. court — of law
  13. hand — in cards
  14. wound — an injury
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. tear — to rip
  17. roll — a cake
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. kick — in football
  23. roll — a list
  24. scale — size or range

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