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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: hide · stick · kick · hand · last · band · cold · court

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. court — for sport
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. band — a ring
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. court — of law
  11. kick — in football
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. hand — help
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. cold — an illness
  17. court — of a king
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. last — finally
  22. last — to go on
  23. last — final
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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