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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: row · ground · rock · bat · court · kid · last · mine

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. last — finally
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. kid — child
  7. rock — music
  8. court — of law
  9. last — to go on
  10. rock — a stone
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. court — of a king
  13. ground — the earth
  14. row — a line
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. ground — crushed
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — for digging
  19. kid — to tease
  20. ground — a position
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. court — for sport
  23. row — to paddle
  24. last — final

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