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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: key · bowl · chair · field · content · swing · stem · wind

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. swing — to play on
  3. chair — a leader
  4. stem — to come from
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. content — the amount
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. key — the most important part
  9. field — farmland
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. swing — in golf
  13. field — a subject
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. swing — music
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. key — for a lock
  19. content — happy
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. key — in music
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. wind — moving air
  24. field — for sport

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