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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 water is too ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. track — a song
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. craft — a skill
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. craft — boats
  12. present — the time now
  13. present — there
  14. present — a gift
  15. cold — an illness
  16. track — to keep track
  17. swing — music
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. track — a path
  20. pound — a weight
  21. swing — in golf
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — for digging

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