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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 120 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: swing · last · pit · current · kid · cell · court · straw

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — in golf
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. last — to go on
  6. pit — a hole
  7. current — happening now
  8. court — of law
  9. last — final
  10. cell — a phone
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. pit — in a race
  13. kid — to tease
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. cell — in biology
  16. court — for sport
  17. swing — to play on
  18. last — finally
  19. court — of a king
  20. kid — child
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. current — of water
  24. current — electric

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