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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: wound · pitcher · vault · court · racket · hand · swing · rush

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — help
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rush — hurry
  5. court — of law
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. wound — an injury
  9. swing — in golf
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. swing — to play on
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. hand — in cards
  15. court — for sport
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. court — of a king
  19. swing — music
  20. vault — a safe
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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