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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: kid · bat · hide · cue · mine · tear · mug · court

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. court — of law
  3. mug — a cup
  4. court — of a king
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. tear — to rip
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bat — the animal
  9. cue — a hint
  10. kid — child
  11. mug — a face
  12. tear — from crying
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. cue — a signal
  18. court — for sport
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. tear — from crying
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cue — for pool

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