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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. swing — music
  4. current — happening now
  5. bat — the animal
  6. swing — in golf
  7. current — of water
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. clip — to cut
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. swing — to play on
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. current — electric
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. clip — a video
  16. race — the arms race
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. race — a contest
  21. clip — for paper
  22. race — humankind
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. mine — for digging

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