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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. swing — in golf
  3. file — a tool
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. file — a document
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. hand — help
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. sharp — clever
  15. hand — in cards
  16. swing — to play on
  17. swing — music
  18. stem — to come from
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. file — a line of people
  23. capital — a city
  24. pound — for dogs

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