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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: lie · march · club · fork · row · swing · spring · cue

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. club — for golf
  4. swing — in golf
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — a line
  7. row — to paddle
  8. march — the month
  9. cue — a signal
  10. fork — in a road
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — the season
  13. cue — for pool
  14. march — the month
  15. lie — to recline
  16. club — for dancing
  17. spring — a coil
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. swing — music
  20. march — music
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. club — a group
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. swing — to play on

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