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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. sharp — clever
  3. rash — a series
  4. pitch — completely
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. wake — a trail
  10. swing — to play on
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. rash — hasty
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. cold — not warm
  20. swing — in golf
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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