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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 116 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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. mug — to rob
  4. kid — child
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of law
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. bass — the fish
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. cold — an illness
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. kid — to tease
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. mug — a cup
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. cold — not warm
  21. snap — to click
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — in cards
  24. bass — low music

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