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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 116 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: cold · lash · game · court · hand · object · pit · kid

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. pit — in a race
  5. object — an aim
  6. game — a match
  7. court — for sport
  8. kid — child
  9. hand — in cards
  10. game — wild animals
  11. court — of law
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. kid — to tease
  16. court — of a king
  17. pit — a hole
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. object — to protest
  21. cold — an illness
  22. object — a thing
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. lash — to lash out

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