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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  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. rush — hurry
  3. land — ground
  4. wind — moving air
  5. land — a country
  6. net — for catching
  7. face — to point toward
  8. swing — in golf
  9. net — in sport
  10. spring — a coil
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. face — part of the head
  13. land — to come down
  14. net — after costs
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. spring — the season
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. face — to confront
  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