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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. drill — a practice
  3. cue — a signal
  4. spring — the season
  5. cue — a hint
  6. kid — to tease
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — of water
  9. cue — for pool
  10. kid — child
  11. court — for sport
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. court — of law
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — a leader
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — the tool
  19. snap — to click
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. court — of a king
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. straw — dry grass

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