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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. season — of the year
  3. firm — a company
  4. cold — not warm
  5. net — in sport
  6. cold — an illness
  7. swing — in golf
  8. firm — steady
  9. net — after costs
  10. firm — decided
  11. net — for catching
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. season — in sport
  14. pitch — completely
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. swing — music
  17. deal — to handle
  18. swing — to play on
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. capital — a city
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. capital — money

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