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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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Word bank
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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: spring · court · hide · kid · dip · wound · pitcher · charge

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. kid — to tease
  3. spring — of water
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. charge — electricity
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. spring — the season
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wound — an injury
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — for sport
  15. wound — an injury
  16. dip — to sink
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. kid — child
  19. charge — in control
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. charge — a price
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. spring — a coil
  24. court — of law

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