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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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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: straw · racket · bat · rash · calf · chair · stick · court

  1. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  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. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. chair — a leader
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. court — for sport
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. rash — a series
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. rash — hasty
  14. court — of a king
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. bat — the animal
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. rash — on the skin
  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