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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: kid · cell · bat · court · bear · club · spell · object

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. court — for sport
  6. object — to protest
  7. club — for dancing
  8. club — for golf
  9. cell — in biology
  10. object — an aim
  11. court — of a king
  12. spell — magic
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — child
  15. spell — a short time
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. spell — letters
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. bear — the animal
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. object — a thing
  24. club — a group

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