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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. court — for sport
  5. craft — boats
  6. mine — for digging
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. mark — a trace
  10. swing — in golf
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. chest — of your body
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mark — a grade
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. court — of law
  21. craft — a skill
  22. swing — music
  23. court — of a king
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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