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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — a short time
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. swing — in golf
  8. ground — the earth
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. pit — a hole
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — a position
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. pit — in a race
  18. wind — moving air
  19. spell — magic
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. wind — moving air
  22. swing — music
  23. hand — in cards
  24. swing — to play on

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