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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 120 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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. craft — a skill
  4. present — a gift
  5. spring — the season
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. swing — in golf
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. craft — boats
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. spring — of water
  12. swing — music
  13. squash — the sport
  14. swing — to play on
  15. spring — a coil
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. mine — for digging
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. squash — to crush
  22. present — the time now
  23. bat — the animal
  24. hide — animal skin

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