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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 120 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: wound · fall · hand · cabinet · court · swing · sharp · snap

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. hand — in cards
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. court — for sport
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wound — an injury
  7. swing — in golf
  8. swing — music
  9. snap — to click
  10. sharp — clever
  11. court — of a king
  12. court — of law
  13. hand — help
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. fall — the season
  21. swing — to play on
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. sharp — exactly

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