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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. tube — the underground
  3. swing — in golf
  4. swing — to play on
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. present — there
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. hand — in cards
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. present — a gift
  14. present — the time now
  15. swing — music
  16. mine — for digging
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. root — of a word
  19. tube — a container
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. toast — bread
  22. hand — help
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — the cause

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