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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. season — of the year
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. spell — letters
  6. kick — in football
  7. scale — in music
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. scale — size or range
  10. spell — a short time
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. pit — a hole
  14. swing — in golf
  15. game — a match
  16. swing — to play on
  17. season — in sport
  18. cell — in biology
  19. spell — magic
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. cell — a phone
  24. pit — in a race

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