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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 116 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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. march — the month
  3. lie — to recline
  4. swing — music
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. march — music
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. cold — not warm
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. swing — to play on
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. content — the amount
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. content — happy
  21. march — the month
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. cold — an illness
  24. swing — in golf

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