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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 116 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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. fine — high quality
  3. fine — all right
  4. pound — a weight
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. mark — a trace
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. spring — the season
  11. swing — in golf
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. mark — a grade
  21. kid — child
  22. spring — a coil
  23. swing — music
  24. spring — of water

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