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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. dip — to sink
  3. rash — a series
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. kid — child
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. foot — a measure
  8. capital — money
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. rash — hasty
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. capital — a city
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. swing — music
  17. spring — a coil
  18. kid — to tease
  19. mine — for digging
  20. spring — the season
  21. spring — of water
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. swing — in golf

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