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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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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: snap · pit · swing · bat · bowl · chest · field · court

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. chest — of your body
  3. swing — music
  4. field — a subject
  5. pit — a hole
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. bat — the animal
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. court — for sport
  11. field — for sport
  12. court — of a king
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. court — of law
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. field — farmland
  19. snap — to click
  20. chest — a box
  21. pit — in a race
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — to play 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