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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. fine — high quality
  5. wake — a trail
  6. chest — of your body
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. pitch — completely
  9. fine — all right
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. capital — a city
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. swing — music
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. scale — in music
  19. scale — size or range
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. swing — in golf
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. chest — a box
  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