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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 · dip · sharp · kid · row · hand · pitch · last

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. swing — music
  6. last — to go on
  7. kid — to tease
  8. dip — to sink
  9. last — finally
  10. hand — help
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. swing — in golf
  13. pitch — completely
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. swing — to play on
  17. row — to paddle
  18. last — final
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. hand — in cards
  21. kid — child
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — a line
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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