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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. current — happening now
  3. field — farmland
  4. swing — to play on
  5. squash — the sport
  6. current — of water
  7. current — electric
  8. fall — to drop
  9. field — a subject
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. swing — in golf
  12. spring — of water
  13. tube — a container
  14. tube — the underground
  15. field — for sport
  16. swing — music
  17. fall — the season
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. fall — to drop
  21. spring — a coil
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. squash — to crush
  24. straw — a straw man

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