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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: bat · branch · season · ground · swing · hand · pitch · suit

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. season — in sport
  4. ground — the earth
  5. branch — a division
  6. pitch — completely
  7. suit — to fit
  8. ground — crushed
  9. swing — music
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. hand — help
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. ground — a position
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. swing — in golf
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. suit — clothes
  23. swing — to play on
  24. suit — in cards

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