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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. race — the arms race
  10. pitch — completely
  11. swing — in golf
  12. spring — of water
  13. race — a contest
  14. spring — a coil
  15. file — a document
  16. swing — music
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. file — a line of people
  20. race — humankind
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. mine — for digging
  23. file — a tool
  24. spring — the season

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