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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: bat · cue · court · perch · land · rule · snap · sharp

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. court — for sport
  5. cue — a hint
  6. cue — for pool
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. land — a country
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. cue — a signal
  11. rule — a law
  12. court — of a king
  13. sharp — clever
  14. rule — government
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. land — to come down
  17. bat — the animal
  18. perch — the fish
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. snap — to click
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. court — of law

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