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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. spring — of water
  3. spring — a coil
  4. swing — in golf
  5. key — in music
  6. swing — to play on
  7. field — a subject
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. ground — crushed
  11. rush — hurry
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in biology
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. key — for a lock
  17. ground — the earth
  18. key — the most important part
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. ground — a position
  21. field — farmland
  22. swing — music
  23. spring — the season
  24. field — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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