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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: march · court · bowl · leaves · game · swing · chest · file

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. court — of a king
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. march — music
  5. chest — of your body
  6. court — for sport
  7. swing — in golf
  8. game — wild animals
  9. court — of law
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. swing — to play on
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. chest — a box
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. march — the month
  18. file — a line of people
  19. swing — music
  20. march — the month
  21. file — a document
  22. chest — of your body
  23. game — a match
  24. file — a tool

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