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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 120 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. chest — of your body
  3. swing — in golf
  4. cold — not warm
  5. net — in sport
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cold — an illness
  11. chest — a box
  12. foot — a measure
  13. chest — of your body
  14. net — for catching
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. wind — moving air
  20. net — after costs
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — to play on
  24. wind — to turn a key

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