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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. rest — what's left
  3. swing — music
  4. rest — a break
  5. wound — an injury
  6. spell — letters
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rock — music
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. swing — to play on
  12. spell — a short time
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mate — a partner
  16. spell — magic
  17. cold — an illness
  18. rest — what's left
  19. stock — goods
  20. rock — a stone
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. stock — shares
  23. swing — in golf
  24. mate — a friend

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