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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: roll · bass · swing · sharp · kick · game · field · foot

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. roll — a list
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. bass — low music
  7. field — a subject
  8. swing — in golf
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. sharp — clever
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. field — for sport
  13. game — wild animals
  14. field — farmland
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. swing — music
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. swing — to play on
  22. game — a match
  23. foot — a measure
  24. kick — in football

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