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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: mate · cold · ground · bear · ball · land · swing · chair

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ball — a great time
  7. bear — the animal
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. cold — an illness
  10. ball — a dance
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. land — a country
  14. mate — to breed
  15. ground — crushed
  16. bear — the animal
  17. land — ground
  18. ground — a position
  19. mate — a partner
  20. land — to come down
  21. swing — in golf
  22. mate — a friend
  23. cold — not warm
  24. swing — to play on

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