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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. swing — in golf
  3. date — the fruit
  4. game — a match
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. chair — a leader
  7. swing — music
  8. swing — to play on
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. ground — a position
  17. court — of law
  18. ground — the earth
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. court — for sport
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. court — of a king
  24. game — wild animals

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