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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. pitch — completely
  3. march — the month
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. march — the month
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — to play on
  11. present — there
  12. snap — to click
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. net — for catching
  15. wound — an injury
  16. net — in sport
  17. swing — music
  18. present — a gift
  19. present — the time now
  20. net — after costs
  21. march — music
  22. wound — an injury
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. mine — for digging

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