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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spell — a short time
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. net — after costs
  5. swing — to play on
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. spell — letters
  8. land — a country
  9. spell — magic
  10. march — the month
  11. ground — a position
  12. chest — a box
  13. swing — music
  14. swing — in golf
  15. land — ground
  16. chest — of your body
  17. net — for catching
  18. land — to come down
  19. chest — of your body
  20. net — in sport
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. ground — the earth

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