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

Word bank: court · patient · chest · chip · kick · swing

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. chest — of your body
  3. court — for sport
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. court — of a king
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. chest — a box
  9. swing — to play on
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. swing — music
  12. chest — of your body
  13. court — of law
  14. swing — in golf
  15. chip — to eat
  16. chip — for betting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. chip — in a computer

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