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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: spring · game · cue · hand · bass · pitch · fork · swing

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. spring — of water
  4. swing — music
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. spring — the season
  7. bass — the fish
  8. bass — low music
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. hand — help
  12. cue — a signal
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. pitch — completely
  15. fork — in a road
  16. spring — a coil
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. hand — in cards
  20. cue — for pool
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cue — a hint
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — to play on

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