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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · mine · toast · racket · tube · hand · spring · ground

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. mine — for digging
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. ground — the earth
  5. swing — to play on
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. spring — of water
  9. swing — music
  10. toast — bread
  11. spring — the season
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. hand — help
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. tube — a container
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. hand — in cards
  20. tube — the underground
  21. ground — a position
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. swing — in golf
  24. ground — crushed

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