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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: swing · perch · rock · fall · court · arm · ground · kid

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. ground — crushed
  3. swing — to play on
  4. court — of a king
  5. ground — a position
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. fall — the season
  8. rock — a stone
  9. kid — to tease
  10. swing — in golf
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. kid — child
  13. ground — the earth
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. perch — the fish
  16. fall — to drop
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. rock — music
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. court — of law
  23. court — for sport
  24. swing — music

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