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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  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. hand — part of the body
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. court — of a king
  4. content — happy
  5. rest — what's left
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rest — a break
  8. rest — what's left
  9. cold — an illness
  10. hand — in cards
  11. court — of law
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. cold — not warm
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. kid — child
  16. squash — the sport
  17. kid — to tease
  18. content — the amount
  19. squash — to crush
  20. court — for sport
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. hand — help
  23. squash — the vegetable
  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