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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: arm · fall · cold · fan · court · swing · chip · club

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. swing — in golf
  3. club — a group
  4. swing — music
  5. chip — for betting
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. court — for sport
  8. fall — to drop
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. chip — to eat
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — of law
  14. fall — the season
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. cold — not warm
  17. fall — to drop
  18. club — for dancing
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. swing — to play on
  21. club — for golf
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. fan — a supporter

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