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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. swing — to play on
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. spring — the season
  8. court — of law
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. cold — an illness
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. court — for sport
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. court — of a king
  22. swing — music
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. snap — to click

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