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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: rock · court · chest · file · kid · pass · club · squash

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. squash — to crush
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. court — of a king
  7. file — a tool
  8. kid — child
  9. chest — a box
  10. club — a group
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. chest — of your body
  13. rock — a stone
  14. club — for dancing
  15. club — for golf
  16. pass — a permit
  17. squash — the sport
  18. file — a document
  19. kid — to tease
  20. rock — music
  21. court — of law
  22. court — for sport
  23. file — a line of people
  24. squash — the vegetable

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