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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. last — final
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cap — a lid
  5. roll — a list
  6. present — there
  7. chest — a box
  8. swing — in golf
  9. last — to go on
  10. capital — money
  11. swing — music
  12. last — finally
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. cap — of ice
  15. capital — a city
  16. present — a gift
  17. swing — to play on
  18. bass — low music
  19. bass — the fish
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. present — the time now
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cap — a hat

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