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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. club — for dancing
  4. court — for sport
  5. swing — in golf
  6. bat — the animal
  7. court — of a king
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. court — of law
  12. club — a group
  13. swing — music
  14. bass — the fish
  15. kid — child
  16. swing — to play on
  17. club — for golf
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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