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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 coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. swing — music
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. squash — the sport
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. squash — to crush
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cap — a hat
  11. file — a tool
  12. swing — to play on
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. spring — of water
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. file — a document
  18. cap — a lid
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — child
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — a coil
  23. game — a match
  24. file — a line of people

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