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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. spring — a coil
  3. swing — in golf
  4. spring — of water
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. press — a publisher
  10. press — to push
  11. spring — the season
  12. season — of the year
  13. swing — to play on
  14. foot — a measure
  15. season — in sport
  16. swing — music
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. net — for catching
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. net — after costs
  21. sharp — clever
  22. press — newspapers
  23. mine — for digging
  24. net — in sport

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