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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. tube — the underground
  3. swing — music
  4. cold — not warm
  5. swing — to play on
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. spring — of water
  8. clip — for paper
  9. tube — a container
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. mark — a grade
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rock — a stone
  15. rock — music
  16. clip — to cut
  17. spring — the season
  18. suit — in cards
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. clip — a video
  21. cold — an illness
  22. swing — in golf
  23. mark — a trace
  24. suit — clothes

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