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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 · land · court · cell · bear · kick · snap · scale

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. land — a country
  6. court — of law
  7. court — of a king
  8. bear — the animal
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. rock — a stone
  11. rock — music
  12. land — to come down
  13. scale — in music
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. bear — the animal
  18. court — for sport
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — size or range
  21. snap — to click
  22. cell — in biology
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. kick — in football

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