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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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Word bank
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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 · squash · chest · kid · race · spring · mouse · season

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. chest — a box
  4. court — of a king
  5. kid — child
  6. race — humankind
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. season — in sport
  9. season — of the year
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. race — the arms race
  12. kid — to tease
  13. court — of law
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. squash — the sport
  16. chest — of your body
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — of water
  20. squash — to crush
  21. chest — of your body
  22. court — for sport
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. mouse — for a computer

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