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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  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. coach — a trainer
  2. swing — music
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. swing — to play on
  5. present — the time now
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. kid — to tease
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. stock — shares
  10. present — a gift
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. present — there
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. stock — goods
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. cold — an illness
  20. kid — child
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. swing — in golf
  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