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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: key · cold · game · charge · fan · jam · swing · bat

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. charge — electricity
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. key — for a lock
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. key — the most important part
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cold — not warm
  10. swing — to play on
  11. charge — in control
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. swing — music
  14. swing — in golf
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. charge — a price
  20. game — wild animals
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. cold — an illness
  23. key — in music
  24. cold — the Cold War

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