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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: ball · swing · press · row · bark · court · lean · kid

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. kid — to tease
  3. lean — to bend
  4. court — for sport
  5. swing — in golf
  6. ball — a dance
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. ball — a great time
  9. swing — to play on
  10. court — of a king
  11. press — to push
  12. press — a publisher
  13. kid — child
  14. lean — thin
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. press — newspapers
  17. row — to paddle
  18. bark — to shout
  19. swing — music
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. court — of law
  23. row — a line
  24. ball — a round shape

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