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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 116 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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. file — a document
  4. content — the amount
  5. spring — of water
  6. swing — music
  7. present — there
  8. degree — from a university
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. content — happy
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. degree — an amount
  14. spring — the season
  15. sharp — clever
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a tool
  18. present — a gift
  19. swing — to play on
  20. spring — a coil
  21. present — the time now
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. degree — temperature
  24. swing — in golf

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