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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 116 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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  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. net — for catching
  2. hand — in cards
  3. court — of law
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — music
  8. hand — help
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. chip — to eat
  13. bat — the animal
  14. chip — for betting
  15. bark — to shout
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of a king
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. swing — in golf
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. net — after costs
  23. net — in sport
  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