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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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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: spring · straw · wound · pop · foot · season · swing · bark

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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. foot — a measure
  4. season — in sport
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. pop — music
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. swing — to play on
  12. bark — to shout
  13. wound — an injury
  14. swing — music
  15. spring — of water
  16. pop — soda
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. pop — to visit
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — the season
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. straw — a straw man

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