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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. swing — in golf
  3. swing — music
  4. spring — of water
  5. can — a tin
  6. swing — to play on
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. can — to be able to
  9. can — a tin
  10. bass — low music
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. spring — the season
  15. bass — the fish
  16. field — farmland
  17. spring — a coil
  18. field — for sport
  19. land — to come down
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. field — a subject
  23. land — a country
  24. fan — a supporter

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