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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  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. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. last — final
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. content — the amount
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. swing — to play on
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. last — finally
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. branch — a division
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. content — happy
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. last — to go on
  23. swing — music
  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