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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. bass — the fish
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. swing — to play on
  5. tear — to rip
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. bass — low music
  8. spell — a short time
  9. cell — a phone
  10. tear — from crying
  11. current — of water
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cell — in biology
  14. swing — in golf
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. current — electric
  17. spell — magic
  18. swing — music
  19. current — happening now
  20. hand — help
  21. spell — letters
  22. hand — in cards
  23. tear — from crying
  24. season — in sport

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