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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 · jam · cell · shower · swing · pound · spell · last

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. last — finally
  4. spell — a short time
  5. last — to go on
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. cell — a phone
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cell — in biology
  12. court — of law
  13. pound — a weight
  14. shower — to wash
  15. swing — to play on
  16. spell — letters
  17. swing — music
  18. last — final
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. spell — magic
  22. shower — rain
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. court — of a king

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