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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: straw · cell · kid · pit · band · jam · ball · court

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pit — in a race
  3. court — of a king
  4. ball — a great time
  5. cell — in biology
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. court — of law
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a dance
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. kid — child
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. pit — a hole
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. band — a ring
  21. cell — a phone
  22. court — for sport
  23. band — a music group
  24. straw — dry grass

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