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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 116 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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. swing — music
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. game — wild animals
  8. wind — moving air
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. game — a match
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. swing — to play on
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. pitch — completely
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pound — a weight
  23. swing — in golf
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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