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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: wave · cold · ground · chair · drill · kick · swing · court

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. court — of a king
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. ground — crushed
  7. ground — a position
  8. swing — in golf
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. court — for sport
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — to play on
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. chair — a leader
  17. drill — army training
  18. kick — in football
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. court — of law
  24. drill — a practice

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