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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. rest — what's left
  5. swing — to play on
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. current — of water
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. rest — a break
  11. stock — shares
  12. swing — in golf
  13. root — the cause
  14. stock — goods
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — of water
  17. current — electric
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. swing — music
  20. root — of a plant
  21. spring — a coil
  22. root — of a word
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. current — happening now

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