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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 · deal · band · cold · fall · arm · swing · plane

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. court — of law
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a ring
  7. swing — music
  8. court — for sport
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. fall — to drop
  13. swing — in golf
  14. fall — the season
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. plane — a tool
  18. swing — to play on
  19. court — of a king
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. cold — not warm
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. deal — to handle
  24. cold — an illness

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