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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 sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. degree — from a university
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. spring — the season
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. can — to be able to
  11. swing — music
  12. fine — all right
  13. swing — to play on
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. can — a tin
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. degree — an amount
  18. snap — to click
  19. can — a tin
  20. fine — high quality
  21. swing — in golf
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spring — of water
  24. degree — temperature

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