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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. hand — in cards
  3. swing — in golf
  4. court — of law
  5. court — for sport
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. kid — child
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. swing — music
  16. chair — a leader
  17. swing — to play on
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. hand — help
  21. cold — not warm
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. lie — to recline
  24. hand — part of the body

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