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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  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. present — the time now
  2. swing — to play on
  3. wound — an injury
  4. spring — the season
  5. swing — in golf
  6. plane — a tool
  7. present — there
  8. shower — to wash
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. wound — an injury
  11. shower — rain
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. spring — of water
  17. ground — a position
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. present — a gift
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ground — crushed
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. straw — a straw man
  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