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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 116 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: cold · kick · key · straw · squash · club · court · snap

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. key — in music
  3. key — the most important part
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. court — for sport
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. squash — to crush
  9. club — for golf
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. club — a group
  13. key — for a lock
  14. court — of law
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cold — not warm
  17. squash — the sport
  18. snap — to click
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. club — for dancing
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. court — of a king
  24. kick — in football

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