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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: kick · pop · land · saw · snap · court · bat · squash

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. kick — in football
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. snap — to click
  5. land — ground
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. saw — the tool
  8. pop — to visit
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. court — of law
  11. bat — the animal
  12. court — for sport
  13. pop — soda
  14. squash — to crush
  15. court — of a king
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. saw — the tool
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. pop — music
  20. land — to come down
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. squash — the sport
  23. land — a country
  24. bat — in an idiom

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