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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. ball — a dance
  3. swing — in golf
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — not warm
  6. net — in sport
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. swing — music
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitch — completely
  17. wind — moving air
  18. swing — to play on
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. ball — a great time
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. stem — to come from
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. net — after costs

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