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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: present · deal · march · swing · kid · chest · sharp · ball

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. kid — child
  3. chest — of your body
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. ball — a dance
  6. present — a gift
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. chest — of your body
  9. march — the month
  10. deal — to handle
  11. present — the time now
  12. swing — in golf
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. swing — music
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. ball — a great time
  17. sharp — clever
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. chest — a box
  20. present — there
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. swing — to play on
  24. kid — to tease

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