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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. race — the arms race
  3. race — humankind
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. hand — help
  9. mine — for digging
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. swing — in golf
  12. spell — letters
  13. chest — of your body
  14. spell — a short time
  15. chest — of your body
  16. race — a contest
  17. swing — music
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. spell — magic
  22. stem — to come from
  23. hand — in cards
  24. chest — a box

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