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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 tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. lean — to bend
  3. swing — in golf
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. row — a line
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. drill — a practice
  8. swing — to play on
  9. row — to paddle
  10. drill — the tool
  11. swing — music
  12. wind — moving air
  13. charge — electricity
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. spring — of water
  16. spring — the season
  17. mine — for digging
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wind — moving air
  21. lean — thin
  22. drill — army training
  23. spring — a coil
  24. charge — in control

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