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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: snap · court · stand · kid · chest · race

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. kid — to tease
  6. chest — of your body
  7. snap — to click
  8. race — humankind
  9. stand — to bear
  10. race — a contest
  11. chest — of your body
  12. race — the arms race
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. kid — child
  17. court — of law
  18. snap — to snap out of it

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