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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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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: bound · craft · stick · net · court · bat · kid · cold

  1. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. kid — child
  5. net — for catching
  6. cold — not warm
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cold — an illness
  9. craft — a skill
  10. court — of a king
  11. bound — obliged
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — in sport
  14. court — for sport
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bound — tied together
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. craft — boats
  22. bound — certain
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. court — of law

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