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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: hide · kid · swing · date · ball · pop · foot · fall

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. swing — in golf
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pop — music
  5. ball — a great time
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. date — the fruit
  8. kid — to tease
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. pop — to visit
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. ball — a dance
  15. foot — a measure
  16. pop — soda
  17. fall — to drop
  18. kid — child
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. swing — music
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — the season

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