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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 124 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. That must've been a ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. root — the cause
  4. swing — to play on
  5. rash — hasty
  6. rush — hurry
  7. rash — a series
  8. game — wild animals
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. hand — in cards
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. lean — thin
  16. root — of a word
  17. root — of a plant
  18. hand — help
  19. lean — to bend
  20. swing — in golf
  21. game — a match
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. swing — music
  24. game — a kind of play

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