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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. net — in sport
  3. swing — in golf
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. staff — a stick
  6. net — for catching
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. spring — of water
  9. staff — employees
  10. spring — the season
  11. net — after costs
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. shower — to wash
  14. spring — a coil
  15. shower — rain
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. swing — to play on
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. swing — music
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. sharp — clever
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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