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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. content — happy
  3. spell — a short time
  4. net — in sport
  5. spell — letters
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. cold — not warm
  8. vault — a safe
  9. content — the amount
  10. spell — magic
  11. swing — to play on
  12. ground — crushed
  13. ground — the earth
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — after costs
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. cold — an illness
  19. swing — music
  20. pitch — completely
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. ground — a position

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