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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: bulb · arm · coach · wind · mine · swing · court · cell

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. swing — music
  3. cell — a phone
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bulb — for light
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bulb — for light
  9. swing — to play on
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wind — moving air
  13. court — for sport
  14. swing — in golf
  15. court — of law
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. court — of a king
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cell — in biology

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