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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: ball · pit · wound · swing · pass · scale · present · cold

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. ball — a great time
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. swing — music
  6. wound — an injury
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. present — a gift
  10. ball — a dance
  11. scale — size or range
  12. cold — not warm
  13. present — the time now
  14. swing — to play on
  15. present — there
  16. cold — an illness
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. swing — in golf
  19. pit — a hole
  20. pass — a permit
  21. scale — in music
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. wound — an injury

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