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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. present — the time now
  3. spring — of water
  4. net — for catching
  5. ground — the earth
  6. net — in sport
  7. present — there
  8. swing — in golf
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. spring — a coil
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. cold — not warm
  15. swing — to play on
  16. present — a gift
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — a position
  21. spring — the season
  22. sharp — clever
  23. cold — an illness
  24. net — after costs

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