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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 116 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: court · net · cabinet · staff · swing · hand · bat · straw

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. court — for sport
  4. net — in sport
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. swing — music
  7. hand — help
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. staff — employees
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — of law
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. swing — to play on
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bat — the animal
  19. swing — in golf
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — a stick
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. net — after costs

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