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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 116 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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. file — a tool
  3. game — a match
  4. wound — an injury
  5. pop — soda
  6. game — wild animals
  7. pop — music
  8. hand — in cards
  9. swing — music
  10. mate — to breed
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. mate — a partner
  14. file — a document
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. mate — a friend
  18. wound — an injury
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. swing — to play on
  21. hand — help
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. file — a line of people
  24. pop — to visit

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