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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
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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: file · trunk · bat · swing · court · pitcher · row · cue

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. court — for sport
  2. row — a line
  3. file — a line of people
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. cue — a signal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. file — a tool
  8. swing — music
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. cue — for pool
  11. bat — the animal
  12. court — of a king
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. cue — a hint
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. file — a document
  17. swing — in golf
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. row — to paddle
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. swing — to play on
  23. bat — for baseball
  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