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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. swing — to play on
  3. row — a line
  4. kid — to tease
  5. row — to paddle
  6. kid — child
  7. swing — music
  8. land — a country
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. pitch — completely
  13. content — the amount
  14. land — ground
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. content — happy
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. hand — in cards
  20. land — to come down
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. hand — help
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. pitch — a sports field

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