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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: fall · pitch · land · row · chest · season · swing · cap

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cap — a lid
  3. swing — in golf
  4. land — ground
  5. fall — the season
  6. swing — music
  7. season — in sport
  8. season — of the year
  9. cap — a hat
  10. land — to come down
  11. chest — of your body
  12. land — a country
  13. chest — a box
  14. row — to paddle
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. cap — of ice
  17. chest — of your body
  18. fall — to drop
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. swing — to play on
  24. row — a line

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