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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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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: straw · hand · wake · kick · cap · mine · pass · court

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. wake — a trail
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. court — of law
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. mine — for digging
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. hand — help
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. pass — a permit
  14. hand — in cards
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. court — for sport
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. cap — a hat
  20. court — of a king
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. kick — in football
  24. cap — a lid

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