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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. swing — in golf
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. season — in sport
  5. shower — to wash
  6. ball — a dance
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. pop — soda
  9. swing — music
  10. track — a song
  11. swing — to play on
  12. row — a line
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. track — to keep track
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. pop — music
  17. pop — to visit
  18. season — of the year
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. ball — a great time
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. row — to paddle
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. shower — rain

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