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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of a king
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. cue — a hint
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. hand — help
  7. squash — to crush
  8. kid — to tease
  9. present — a gift
  10. kid — child
  11. present — there
  12. present — the time now
  13. game — a match
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. cue — a signal
  16. dip — to sink
  17. game — wild animals
  18. squash — the sport
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cue — for pool
  23. court — of law
  24. hand — in cards

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