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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. swing — in golf
  3. swing — music
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. hand — help
  7. pop — to visit
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. stem — to come from
  11. content — happy
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. cue — a signal
  14. mine — for digging
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pop — music
  17. pop — soda
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. swing — to play on
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. cue — for pool
  22. content — the amount
  23. hand — in cards
  24. wind — to turn a key

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