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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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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 · club · trunk · kid · chest · kick · swing · dip

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. swing — in golf
  3. club — for golf
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — to tease
  7. dip — to sink
  8. chest — a box
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. kick — in football
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. club — a group
  14. club — for dancing
  15. kid — child
  16. court — of a king
  17. chest — of your body
  18. swing — to play on
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of law
  24. swing — music

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