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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. court — for sport
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. bass — the fish
  6. row — a line
  7. court — of a king
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. swing — in golf
  11. court — of law
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. chest — of your body
  14. rash — hasty
  15. bass — low music
  16. chest — a box
  17. rash — a series
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. swing — music
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. chest — of your body
  24. row — to paddle

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