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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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. swing — in golf
  3. swing — music
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. chair — a leader
  6. key — in music
  7. pit — in a race
  8. key — for a lock
  9. cold — an illness
  10. key — the most important part
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. track — a path
  13. bear — the animal
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. pit — a hole
  17. bear — the animal
  18. track — to keep track
  19. cold — not warm
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. swing — to play on
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. spring — the season
  24. track — a song

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