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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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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: swing · firm · bark · bat · pitch · wake · wound · mate

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. swing — to play on
  3. wound — an injury
  4. mate — a partner
  5. pitch — completely
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. swing — music
  11. firm — steady
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. wake — a trail
  15. mate — to breed
  16. swing — in golf
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bark — to shout
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bat — the animal
  23. mate — a friend
  24. firm — decided

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