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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. land — to come down
  4. swing — in golf
  5. tear — to rip
  6. net — after costs
  7. chair — a leader
  8. spring — the season
  9. swing — music
  10. file — a line of people
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — for catching
  13. spring — of water
  14. tear — from crying
  15. board — to get on
  16. swing — to play on
  17. tear — from crying
  18. file — a document
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. board — a committee
  21. land — ground
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. land — a country
  24. spring — a coil

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