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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — magic
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. firm — steady
  8. march — the month
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. degree — from a university
  11. march — music
  12. spell — a short time
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. degree — temperature
  15. cold — not warm
  16. swing — in golf
  17. firm — a company
  18. firm — decided
  19. degree — an amount
  20. swing — music
  21. cap — a lid
  22. cap — a hat
  23. march — the month
  24. cap — of ice

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