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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.

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

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. swing — in golf
  15. shower — rain
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. court — of a king
  18. swing — music
  19. pitch — completely
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bass — low music
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. snap — to click
  24. swing — to play on

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