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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. net — in sport
  3. swing — in golf
  4. pop — music
  5. race — humankind
  6. season — in sport
  7. season — of the year
  8. key — in music
  9. court — of law
  10. key — for a lock
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. pop — soda
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. net — after costs
  16. race — a contest
  17. court — for sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. key — the most important part
  21. swing — music
  22. court — of a king
  23. pop — to visit
  24. race — the arms race

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