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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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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: ground · swing · sharp · pop · court · row · fall · board

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. swing — to play on
  3. pop — soda
  4. row — a line
  5. ground — crushed
  6. row — to paddle
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. court — of law
  9. ground — a position
  10. swing — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. board — a committee
  13. court — of a king
  14. fall — the season
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. pop — music
  17. fall — to drop
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. fall — to drop
  20. swing — in golf
  21. ground — the earth
  22. board — to get on
  23. court — for sport
  24. sharp — clever

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