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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. game — wild animals
  3. swing — music
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. land — to come down
  6. bat — the animal
  7. wound — an injury
  8. swing — to play on
  9. cell — in biology
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. current — of water
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. land — ground
  15. game — a match
  16. wound — an injury
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. sharp — clever
  21. current — electric
  22. cell — a phone
  23. current — happening now
  24. land — a country

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