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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. game — a match
  3. row — a line
  4. wind — moving air
  5. row — to paddle
  6. wind — moving air
  7. game — wild animals
  8. swing — music
  9. swing — to play on
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. wind — to turn a key

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