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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — of water
  7. swing — in golf
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. perch — the fish
  10. bound — certain
  11. bound — tied together
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. swing — to play on
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. spring — a coil
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. bound — obliged
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. swing — music
  24. patient — a sick person

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