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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · fan · lean · swing · court · bowl · ground · pitch

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. ground — a position
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. ground — the earth
  7. lean — to bend
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. swing — to play on
  10. swing — in golf
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. ground — crushed
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. lean — thin
  15. court — of a king
  16. pitch — completely
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. court — for sport
  20. court — of law
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. swing — music
  23. cold — not warm
  24. fan — to cool the air

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