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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: row · bat · swing · cold · cabinet · hand · last · court

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. row — a line
  3. court — of law
  4. bat — the animal
  5. court — of a king
  6. last — finally
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. swing — in golf
  13. hand — help
  14. swing — to play on
  15. row — to paddle
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. last — final
  21. court — for sport
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cold — not warm
  24. last — to go on

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