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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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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: rush · ground · swing · cabinet · court · degree · row · lash

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. rush — hurry
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. row — to paddle
  6. ground — the earth
  7. court — for sport
  8. degree — an amount
  9. swing — to play on
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. row — a line
  12. swing — music
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. court — of a king
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — crushed
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. swing — in golf
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

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