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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. swing — to play on
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. fall — to drop
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — the tool
  9. craft — a skill
  10. snap — to click
  11. fall — to drop
  12. craft — boats
  13. spring — of water
  14. date — the fruit
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. fall — the season
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. land — ground
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — music
  22. spring — the season
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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