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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 116 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: coach · swing · bark · pound · court · bat · content · calf

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. court — for sport
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. swing — to play on
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. court — of a king
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. pound — a weight
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. swing — in golf
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — to shout
  16. swing — music
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — the amount
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. court — of law
  22. content — happy
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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