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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: racket · chest · jam · court · bulb · land · snap · wind

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. land — ground
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. court — of a king
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. chest — a box
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. land — to come down
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. court — of law
  14. land — a country
  15. bulb — for light
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. chest — of your body
  18. snap — to click
  19. bulb — for light
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. court — for sport
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. bulb — of a plant

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