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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. branch — a division
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — of water
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. kid — to tease
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. press — newspapers
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. swing — music
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. press — a publisher
  17. swing — to play on
  18. kid — child
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. saw — the tool
  22. swing — in golf
  23. press — to push
  24. saw — the tool

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