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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: trunk · ball · court · mark · swing · rush · cold · rule

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. court — of a king
  4. ball — a great time
  5. swing — in golf
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rule — a law
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. mark — a grade
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. mark — a trace
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. swing — music
  17. court — of law
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. ball — a dance
  23. swing — to play on
  24. rule — government

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