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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. swing — to play on
  4. face — part of the head
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. content — happy
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. face — to confront
  9. squash — the sport
  10. squash — to crush
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. capital — money
  14. lean — thin
  15. field — a subject
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — the amount
  18. capital — a city
  19. lean — to bend
  20. chip — for betting
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. chip — to eat
  23. swing — music
  24. face — to point toward

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