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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: content · pop · chest · ground · wind · field · suit · swing

  1. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. field — for sport
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pop — to visit
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. swing — to play on
  9. chest — a box
  10. suit — clothes
  11. field — a subject
  12. ground — the earth
  13. pop — music
  14. content — happy
  15. field — farmland
  16. suit — to fit
  17. content — the amount
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pop — soda
  20. wind — moving air
  21. ground — a position
  22. wind — moving air
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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