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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: fine · court · clip · cold · kid · perch · cabinet · bat

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. court — for sport
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. court — of law
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bat — the animal
  11. fine — all right
  12. court — of a king
  13. clip — to cut
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. kid — child
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — the fish
  19. kid — to tease
  20. fine — high quality
  21. clip — a video
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  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