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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. swing — to play on
  3. rest — a break
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. field — farmland
  6. suit — in cards
  7. swing — in golf
  8. drill — a practice
  9. suit — clothes
  10. suit — to fit
  11. chip — for betting
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. prune — to trim
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. drill — the tool
  18. rest — what's left
  19. drill — army training
  20. swing — music
  21. chip — to eat
  22. rest — what's left
  23. field — for sport
  24. field — a subject

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