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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. club — a group
  3. pound — a weight
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. swing — in golf
  7. club — for dancing
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. wound — an injury
  12. game — a match
  13. wound — an injury
  14. swing — music
  15. field — farmland
  16. club — for golf
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — for sport
  19. game — wild animals
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. trunk — of a tree

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