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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. last — final
  3. game — wild animals
  4. hand — in cards
  5. game — a match
  6. swing — in golf
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. capital — money
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. last — finally
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. wind — moving air
  15. capital — a city
  16. wind — moving air
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. hand — help
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. last — to go on
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. swing — to play on
  24. swing — music

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