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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. court — for sport
  3. kid — child
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. court — of law
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. court — of a king
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. clip — to cut
  11. spring — of water
  12. kid — to tease
  13. mate — a partner
  14. clip — for paper
  15. spring — the season
  16. cue — a hint
  17. clip — a video
  18. mate — to breed
  19. mate — a friend
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. spring — a coil
  22. cue — a signal
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. cue — for pool

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