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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. land — to come down
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. court — of a king
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. land — a country
  8. squash — the sport
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. band — a ring
  11. court — of law
  12. key — the most important part
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. key — for a lock
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. court — for sport
  17. land — ground
  18. band — a music group
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. key — in music
  23. squash — to crush
  24. band — a rubber band

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