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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 · wound · court · mate · cell · fall · rash · spell

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. spell — magic
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mate — to breed
  6. court — of law
  7. swing — in golf
  8. cell — a phone
  9. spell — letters
  10. mate — a friend
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. court — for sport
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cell — in biology
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rash — hasty
  18. spell — a short time
  19. rash — a series
  20. court — of a king
  21. fall — the season
  22. wound — an injury
  23. swing — music
  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