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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. firm — a company
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. swing — music
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. swing — in golf
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. swing — to play on
  10. rest — what's left
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pitch — completely
  14. kid — to tease
  15. content — happy
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. firm — steady
  19. chair — a leader
  20. firm — decided
  21. kid — child
  22. rest — a break
  23. cold — not warm
  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