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

Word bank: wake · court · kid · straw · file · craft

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. court — of a king
  3. craft — a skill
  4. court — of law
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. court — for sport
  11. kid — to tease
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. craft — boats
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a tool
  18. kid — child

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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