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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — magic
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — of water
  6. game — wild animals
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. mine — for digging
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. current — happening now
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. spring — the season
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — music
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. current — electric
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. swing — to play on
  21. spell — a short time
  22. current — of water
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. game — a match

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