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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. spring — the season
  3. rock — music
  4. roll — a cake
  5. game — wild animals
  6. pop — music
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. fall — to drop
  9. game — a match
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. rash — a series
  12. fall — to drop
  13. spring — a coil
  14. swing — to play on
  15. rock — a stone
  16. spring — of water
  17. rash — hasty
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. fall — the season
  20. pop — soda
  21. roll — a list
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. swing — music
  24. pop — to visit

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