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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 120 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: rest · court · kid · last · calf · cold · scale · club

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. club — for golf
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. last — finally
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. rest — what's left
  8. scale — size or range
  9. club — for dancing
  10. kid — to tease
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. last — final
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. club — a group
  16. court — for sport
  17. last — to go on
  18. rest — a break
  19. scale — in music
  20. court — of a king
  21. cold — not warm
  22. court — of law
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. rest — what's left

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