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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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Word bank
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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. swing — music
  4. game — a match
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. pitch — completely
  7. pass — a permit
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. swing — in golf
  10. cold — an illness
  11. game — wild animals
  12. swing — to play on
  13. scale — size or range
  14. chair — a leader
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. scale — in music
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. pass — to spend time

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