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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 · snap · cell · bank · chest · roll · swing · last

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — in golf
  4. bank — for money
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. swing — to play on
  7. chest — of your body
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. chest — a box
  10. court — of a king
  11. chest — of your body
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. roll — a cake
  14. cell — a phone
  15. last — finally
  16. roll — a list
  17. court — for sport
  18. bank — of a river
  19. cell — in biology
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. bank — for money
  22. last — final
  23. court — of law
  24. last — to go on

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