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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. swing — to play on
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. swing — music
  5. spring — the season
  6. can — a tin
  7. field — a subject
  8. spring — of water
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. can — to be able to
  11. field — for sport
  12. bound — certain
  13. can — a tin
  14. bound — tied together
  15. hand — help
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. hand — in cards
  18. field — farmland
  19. bound — obliged
  20. wound — an injury
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. wound — an injury
  23. spring — a coil
  24. swing — in golf

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