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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: date · chair · present · chest · key · wake · season · swing

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. present — there
  3. chest — of your body
  4. swing — to play on
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. date — the fruit
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. present — the time now
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. key — the most important part
  11. present — a gift
  12. chest — of your body
  13. key — for a lock
  14. season — of the year
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. swing — in golf
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. swing — music
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. key — in music
  22. chest — a box
  23. wake — a trail
  24. season — in sport

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