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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. mine — for digging
  3. file — a tool
  4. pop — soda
  5. charge — a price
  6. spring — the season
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. swing — in golf
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. charge — electricity
  11. swing — music
  12. file — a line of people
  13. pop — to visit
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. fall — the season
  17. charge — in control
  18. file — a document
  19. fall — to drop
  20. spring — of water
  21. fall — to drop
  22. pitch — completely
  23. pop — music
  24. swing — to play on

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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