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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: roll · swing · leaves · deal · chair · cold · pitch · wind

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. swing — to play on
  10. deal — to handle
  11. wind — moving air
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. roll — a list
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — in golf
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. chair — a leader
  20. pitch — completely
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cold — an illness
  23. roll — a cake
  24. leaves — of a tree

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