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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. spring — the season
  3. club — for dancing
  4. chest — of your body
  5. saw — the tool
  6. charge — a price
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. chest — a box
  9. swing — in golf
  10. wind — moving air
  11. club — for golf
  12. charge — electricity
  13. file — a line of people
  14. spring — of water
  15. swing — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. charge — in control
  18. spring — a coil
  19. club — a group
  20. wind — moving air
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a document
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. swing — to play on

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