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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 · court · cell · perch · wave · kick · press · file

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. cell — in biology
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. court — of law
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. kid — child
  11. press — newspapers
  12. court — of a king
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. file — a line of people
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. cell — a phone
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. press — a publisher
  19. file — a document
  20. perch — the fish
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. court — for sport
  23. kick — in football
  24. press — to push

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