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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. swing — in golf
  3. last — final
  4. chest — of your body
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. pound — a weight
  7. chest — a box
  8. saw — the tool
  9. bear — the animal
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. swing — to play on
  15. ball — a great time
  16. ball — a dance
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bear — the animal
  20. last — finally
  21. last — to go on
  22. swing — music
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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