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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: swing · fine · cold · hand · ball · squash · foot · net

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. ball — a dance
  3. hand — help
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. fine — high quality
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. hand — in cards
  9. net — after costs
  10. swing — to play on
  11. cold — an illness
  12. net — in sport
  13. swing — in golf
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. foot — a measure
  16. net — for catching
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. squash — to crush
  20. ball — a great time
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. fine — all right
  23. swing — music
  24. foot — part of the body

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