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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: swing · racket · land · cap · court · bat · date · content

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bat — the animal
  4. swing — music
  5. date — the fruit
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. content — happy
  10. cap — of ice
  11. land — to come down
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. content — the amount
  14. land — a country
  15. cap — a hat
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. court — for sport
  18. land — ground
  19. swing — in golf
  20. court — of law
  21. court — of a king
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. cap — a lid

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