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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: court · chest · net · snap · craft · cold · bulb · kick

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bulb — for light
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. craft — a skill
  5. craft — boats
  6. court — for sport
  7. court — of law
  8. net — for catching
  9. bulb — for light
  10. snap — to click
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. cold — not warm
  14. net — after costs
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cold — an illness
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. kick — in football
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. chest — a box
  22. court — of a king
  23. net — in sport
  24. kick — a thrill

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