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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 116 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. hand — in cards
  3. spring — a coil
  4. prune — to trim
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. club — for dancing
  8. perch — the fish
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. spring — of water
  11. dip — to sink
  12. spring — the season
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. present — a gift
  16. present — there
  17. hand — help
  18. prune — to trim
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. club — a group
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. present — the time now
  23. swing — in golf
  24. perch — for a bird

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