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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 124 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. court — of law
  3. rush — hurry
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. kid — to tease
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. clip — a video
  8. court — of a king
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. court — for sport
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. pit — a hole
  15. key — the most important part
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. key — in music
  19. pit — in a race
  20. key — for a lock
  21. wind — moving air
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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