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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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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: content · ground · wake · march · fine · swing · bat · ball

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. ground — crushed
  4. march — music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. fine — all right
  7. wake — a trail
  8. fine — high quality
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. ball — a dance
  11. ground — a position
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. ball — a great time
  14. march — the month
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. swing — music
  18. swing — in golf
  19. content — happy
  20. bat — the animal
  21. content — the amount
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. ground — the earth
  24. march — the month

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