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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: cell · court · wake · bay · tear · net · coach · kid

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. kid — to tease
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. net — in sport
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. court — of a king
  12. tear — from crying
  13. kid — child
  14. court — for sport
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. cell — in biology
  17. wake — a trail
  18. net — after costs
  19. net — for catching
  20. court — of law
  21. tear — from crying
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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