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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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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: kick · court · racket · wax · spring · drill · bat · chair

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. kick — in football
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. spring — the season
  9. wax — to grow
  10. court — for sport
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. drill — the tool
  17. spring — of water
  18. court — of a king
  19. drill — a practice
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. court — of law
  22. drill — army training
  23. chair — a leader
  24. racket — for tennis

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