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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. court — of law
  4. swing — to play on
  5. prune — to trim
  6. current — electric
  7. current — happening now
  8. court — of a king
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cold — not warm
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. swing — in golf
  13. swing — music
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. current — of water
  16. dip — to sink
  17. cell — in biology
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. cold — an illness
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cold — the Cold War

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