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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. rash — a series
  4. band — a music group
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. rash — hasty
  7. swing — music
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. field — a subject
  10. wound — an injury
  11. field — farmland
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. squash — the sport
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. field — for sport
  16. swing — to play on
  17. chip — for betting
  18. chip — to eat
  19. squash — to crush
  20. sharp — clever
  21. wound — an injury
  22. band — a ring
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. band — a rubber band

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