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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: cold · court · kick · key · arm · dip · club · file

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. club — for dancing
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. court — of a king
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. file — a document
  7. kick — in football
  8. court — for sport
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. club — a group
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. file — a line of people
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. key — for a lock
  18. key — in music
  19. key — the most important part
  20. court — of law
  21. dip — to sink
  22. club — for golf
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. file — a tool

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