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

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. mine — for digging
  5. swing — in golf
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. chip — for betting
  8. stand — to bear
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. chip — to eat
  12. rash — a series
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. spring — a coil
  18. kid — to tease
  19. spring — of water
  20. swing — music
  21. spring — the season
  22. swing — to play on
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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