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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 116 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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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: swing · land · straw · spring · tear · plane · wound · mate

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. land — a country
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mate — a partner
  6. land — to come down
  7. tear — from crying
  8. swing — to play on
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. spring — a coil
  12. spring — of water
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. mate — a friend
  15. tear — to rip
  16. plane — a tool
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. tear — from crying
  22. land — ground
  23. swing — in golf
  24. spring — the season

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