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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a ring
  4. game — wild animals
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. spring — of water
  7. swing — to play on
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. swing — in golf
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. game — a match
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. scale — in music
  20. scale — size or range
  21. plane — a tool
  22. swing — music
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. game — a kind of play

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