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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: land · game · saw · spring · chest · swing

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. swing — in golf
  3. chest — of your body
  4. spring — the season
  5. land — a country
  6. land — ground
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — a coil
  9. chest — of your body
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. swing — music
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. saw — the tool
  14. chest — a box
  15. game — a match
  16. swing — to play on
  17. land — to come down
  18. game — wild animals

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