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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. present — there
  3. face — part of the head
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. swing — in golf
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. face — to point toward
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. present — a gift
  12. swing — music
  13. wound — an injury
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. game — wild animals
  18. face — to confront
  19. cold — an illness
  20. game — a match
  21. swing — to play on
  22. present — the time now
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. coach — a trainer

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