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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. net — in sport
  3. suit — clothes
  4. suit — to fit
  5. chest — a box
  6. game — a match
  7. game — wild animals
  8. chest — of your body
  9. rest — a break
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. race — humankind
  12. chest — of your body
  13. net — for catching
  14. swing — in golf
  15. rest — what's left
  16. swing — music
  17. race — a contest
  18. suit — in cards
  19. wound — an injury
  20. race — the arms race
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rest — what's left
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. net — after costs

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