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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. chair — a leader
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pass — a permit
  13. spring — the season
  14. swing — to play on
  15. spring — a coil
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — the amount
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. swing — in golf
  20. spring — of water
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. content — happy

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