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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. club — a group
  3. current — happening now
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. swing — music
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — for digging
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. spell — a short time
  11. club — for dancing
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. spell — magic
  15. wind — moving air
  16. swing — in golf
  17. prune — to trim
  18. current — of water
  19. fork — in a road
  20. current — electric
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. wind — moving air
  23. swing — to play on
  24. club — for golf

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