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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 120 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. key — in music
  3. court — for sport
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. key — the most important part
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. court — of law
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. key — for a lock
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. chip — to eat
  13. squash — to crush
  14. squash — the sport
  15. deal — to handle
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. chip — for betting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. kid — child
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. court — of a king
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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