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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. swing — music
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. rock — a stone
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. face — to confront
  7. swing — to play on
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. chest — a box
  10. swing — in golf
  11. chest — of your body
  12. face — part of the head
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. chest — of your body
  16. spring — of water
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. spring — a coil
  19. snap — to click
  20. face — to point toward
  21. spring — the season
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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