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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: cold · charge · court · bat · chest · dip · jam · snap

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. cold — an illness
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. charge — in control
  6. snap — to click
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. cold — not warm
  9. court — of a king
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. charge — a price
  12. chest — a box
  13. dip — to sink
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. chest — of your body
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. chest — of your body
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. charge — electricity
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. bat — the animal

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