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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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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 · racket · pitch · snap · field · chip · band · branch

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. band — a ring
  8. swing — in golf
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. band — a music group
  12. chip — for betting
  13. branch — a division
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. snap — to click
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. field — a subject
  20. chip — to eat
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. pitch — completely
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. swing — music

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