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

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. row — to paddle
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. row — a line
  6. swing — music
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bat — the animal
  9. swing — to play on
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. dip — to sink
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. fall — the season
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. court — of law
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. fall — to drop
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. swing — in golf
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. court — of a king
  24. bat — for baseball

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