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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: swing · court · hand · object · bore · board · squash · bat

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. object — a thing
  3. hand — help
  4. court — of law
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. swing — music
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. object — an aim
  10. hand — in cards
  11. object — to protest
  12. board — to get on
  13. bat — the animal
  14. squash — to crush
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. court — of a king
  18. swing — to play on
  19. bore — to drill
  20. bore — to tire
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. court — for sport
  23. squash — the sport
  24. swing — in golf

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