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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. hand — in cards
  3. key — in music
  4. swing — music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. race — humankind
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. season — of the year
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — after costs
  11. race — the arms race
  12. key — for a lock
  13. key — the most important part
  14. race — a contest
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. hand — help
  19. swing — in golf
  20. kid — to tease
  21. date — the fruit
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. net — in sport
  24. kid — child

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