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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.

Make a worksheet

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: court · roll · mine · bound · hand · kid · chest · lash

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. court — of a king
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bound — certain
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. kid — child
  13. court — of law
  14. roll — a cake
  15. kid — to tease
  16. mine — for digging
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. chest — a box
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. chest — of your body
  23. court — for sport
  24. roll — a list

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