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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. game — wild animals
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. game — a match
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. snap — to click
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. swing — music
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. root — of a plant
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. toast — bread
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. root — of a word
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. root — the cause
  24. swing — in 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