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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 hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. swing — to play on
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. pop — to visit
  6. sharp — clever
  7. pop — music
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. clip — for paper
  14. swing — music
  15. roll — a cake
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. clip — a video
  18. staff — employees
  19. clip — to cut
  20. roll — a list
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. staff — a stick
  23. pop — soda
  24. swing — in golf

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