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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. ground — a position
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. game — wild animals
  5. ground — crushed
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. cold — an illness
  8. capital — a city
  9. ground — the earth
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. swing — music
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. swing — to play on
  15. capital — money
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. current — of water
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. swing — in golf
  20. current — happening now
  21. game — a match
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. current — electric
  24. cold — not warm

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