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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. ground — a position
  3. swing — in golf
  4. mark — a trace
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. swing — to play on
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mark — a grade
  10. wind — moving air
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bat — the animal
  15. current — electric
  16. current — of water
  17. ground — crushed
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. swing — music
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. current — happening now

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