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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. swing — in golf
  5. swing — music
  6. swing — to play on
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. wake — a trail
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. present — the time now
  12. stand — to bear
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. foot — a measure
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. season — in sport
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. cold — not warm
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. season — of the year
  23. present — there
  24. wake — before a funeral

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