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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. spell — magic
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. swing — in golf
  5. content — happy
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — letters
  8. cap — a hat
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. clip — for paper
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cap — a lid
  16. lie — to recline
  17. date — the fruit
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. swing — music
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. swing — to play on
  24. content — the amount

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