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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. court — for sport
  3. shower — to wash
  4. object — an aim
  5. shower — rain
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — in golf
  8. rock — a stone
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spell — letters
  11. swing — to play on
  12. object — to protest
  13. court — of a king
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. object — a thing
  21. court — of law
  22. file — a tool
  23. spell — magic
  24. rock — to move gently

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