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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: snap · key · pound · court · bass · wound · cap · chest

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. court — of a king
  3. key — for a lock
  4. pound — a weight
  5. snap — to click
  6. cap — a lid
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. bass — low music
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. court — of law
  11. key — the most important part
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cap — of ice
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. chest — a box
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. court — for sport
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. key — in music
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. bass — the fish
  24. cap — a hat

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