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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: calf · cold · capital · hide · swing · firm · club · bat

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. club — a group
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. firm — a company
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — the animal
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. swing — to play on
  12. capital — money
  13. firm — steady
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. firm — decided
  17. cold — an illness
  18. swing — in golf
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. club — for dancing
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. capital — a city
  23. club — for golf
  24. cold — not warm

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