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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. hand — in cards
  3. staff — employees
  4. spring — the season
  5. chair — a leader
  6. root — the cause
  7. staff — a stick
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bass — low music
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. swing — to play on
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. spring — of water
  16. staff — employees
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bass — the fish
  19. swing — music
  20. hand — help
  21. swing — in golf
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. root — of a word
  24. root — of a plant

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