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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. swing — in golf
  3. tube — a container
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. spring — the season
  12. swing — to play on
  13. clip — for paper
  14. fine — all right
  15. spring — a coil
  16. clip — a video
  17. swing — music
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — of your body
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. tube — the underground
  22. chest — a box
  23. spring — of water
  24. clip — to cut

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