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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · tear · snap · court · cell · mate

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. court — for sport
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. tear — from crying
  6. kid — to tease
  7. mate — to breed
  8. cell — in biology
  9. court — of law
  10. tear — from crying
  11. court — of a king
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — a phone
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. mate — a partner
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — child
  18. mate — a friend

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