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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. swing — music
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. key — the most important part
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. key — for a lock
  7. key — in music
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. swing — in golf
  10. net — in sport
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. rock — a stone
  13. cold — an illness
  14. net — after costs
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. swing — to play on
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. rock — music
  23. net — for catching
  24. season — of the year

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