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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: suit · wax · pitch · swing · ground · chest · cold · spring

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. ground — the earth
  6. spring — a coil
  7. swing — to play on
  8. wax — to grow
  9. suit — to fit
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chest — a box
  12. suit — clothes
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pitch — completely
  15. ground — crushed
  16. cold — an illness
  17. swing — music
  18. spring — the season
  19. ground — a position
  20. chest — of your body
  21. suit — in cards
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. spring — of water

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