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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: pit · ball · bat · last · object · swing · file · spell

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. swing — to play on
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. file — a line of people
  5. swing — in golf
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pit — in a race
  8. bat — the animal
  9. last — final
  10. last — finally
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. spell — magic
  14. object — an aim
  15. swing — music
  16. spell — letters
  17. file — a tool
  18. object — a thing
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. object — to protest
  21. file — a document
  22. last — to go on
  23. spell — a short time
  24. ball — a great time

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