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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 120 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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. present — a gift
  3. band — a ring
  4. rest — what's left
  5. swing — music
  6. pit — a hole
  7. present — there
  8. band — a music group
  9. swing — in golf
  10. chest — of your body
  11. spell — a short time
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. present — the time now
  14. spell — letters
  15. chest — of your body
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. swing — to play on
  20. pit — in a race
  21. rest — what's left
  22. spell — magic
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. chest — a box

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