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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. mug — to rob
  3. mug — a face
  4. court — of law
  5. court — for sport
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. court — of a king
  10. hand — help
  11. mug — a cup
  12. scale — in music
  13. kid — child
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — the tool
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. hand — in cards
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. scale — size or range
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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