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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. craft — boats
  3. squash — the sport
  4. row — a line
  5. swing — in golf
  6. object — to protest
  7. last — finally
  8. pop — soda
  9. spring — a coil
  10. swing — music
  11. squash — to crush
  12. object — a thing
  13. pop — music
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. spring — of water
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. craft — a skill
  19. last — final
  20. pop — to visit
  21. object — an aim
  22. last — to go on
  23. swing — to play on
  24. row — to paddle

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