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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. fine — all right
  3. wind — moving air
  4. prune — to trim
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. fine — high quality
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. prune — to trim
  12. swing — music
  13. fork — in a road
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. snap — to click
  16. swing — in golf
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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