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

Word bank: swing · fork · season · rock · present · cell

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. swing — in golf
  3. rock — music
  4. swing — music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. cell — a phone
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. present — a gift
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. season — in sport
  14. present — the time now
  15. rock — a stone
  16. present — there
  17. fork — in a road
  18. cell — in biology

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