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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 124 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. roll — a list
  3. spring — of water
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. swing — in golf
  7. swing — to play on
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. spring — the season
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. spring — a coil
  12. wind — moving air
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. wound — an injury
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. stem — to come from
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. roll — a cake
  20. dip — to sink
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. wound — an injury
  23. roll — on a roll
  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