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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: root · court · wake · kick · squash · cold · kid · fall

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. root — of a word
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. kid — to tease
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of law
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. fall — the season
  11. root — the cause
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. kid — child
  15. court — of a king
  16. squash — to crush
  17. root — of a plant
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. wake — a trail
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. squash — the sport
  24. cold — an illness

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