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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. swing — in golf
  4. fall — to drop
  5. court — of law
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. swing — to play on
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — for sport
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. perch — the fish
  16. kick — in football
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. swing — music
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. fall — the season
  22. fall — to drop
  23. wind — moving air
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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