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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. press — to push
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. spring — the season
  5. club — a group
  6. swing — in golf
  7. press — a publisher
  8. swing — to play on
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — a coil
  11. press — newspapers
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a document
  14. swing — music
  15. lie — to recline
  16. club — for golf
  17. file — a tool
  18. lie — an untruth

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