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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. saw — the tool
  3. court — of a king
  4. kid — child
  5. saw — the tool
  6. spring — of water
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — the animal
  11. court — of law
  12. swing — music
  13. chest — of your body
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. ball — a great time
  16. spring — a coil
  17. court — for sport
  18. spring — the season
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. ball — a dance
  21. swing — to play on
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. swing — in golf

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