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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: hand · pound · court · swing · leaves · scale · present · straw

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. present — there
  6. hand — help
  7. scale — size or range
  8. court — for sport
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. court — of a king
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. present — the time now
  13. swing — music
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. hand — in cards
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. swing — in golf
  20. present — a gift
  21. scale — in music
  22. pound — a weight
  23. swing — to play on
  24. pound — for dogs

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