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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — in golf
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. spring — of water
  7. content — happy
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. spring — the season
  12. net — in sport
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. net — after costs
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. swing — to play on
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. net — for catching
  19. spring — a coil
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — for betting
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. content — the amount
  24. stem — to come from

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