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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. wind — moving air
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. swing — music
  7. band — a music group
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. hand — help
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. hand — in cards
  15. mark — a trace
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. swing — to play on
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. mark — a grade
  23. swing — in golf
  24. leaves — of a tree

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