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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 · cold · present · fine · suit · pitch · key · snap

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. present — a gift
  3. suit — to fit
  4. fine — high quality
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. key — for a lock
  7. swing — music
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. swing — to play on
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. suit — in cards
  13. pitch — completely
  14. snap — to click
  15. cold — not warm
  16. present — there
  17. suit — clothes
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. present — the time now
  20. key — the most important part
  21. fine — all right
  22. key — in music
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. swing — in golf

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