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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. season — of the year
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. wound — an injury
  6. vault — a safe
  7. season — in sport
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. hand — help
  10. tube — a container
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. tube — the underground
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. hand — in cards
  21. wound — an injury
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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