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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. lean — to bend
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. wind — moving air
  5. ground — crushed
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. swing — music
  8. pitch — completely
  9. net — after costs
  10. spell — letters
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. net — in sport
  13. wind — moving air
  14. spell — magic
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. swing — to play on
  18. ground — the earth
  19. spell — a short time
  20. lean — thin
  21. ground — a position
  22. chest — of your body
  23. swing — in golf
  24. lean — to rest against

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