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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 120 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: cell · snap · present · pound · spring · pitch · mine · swing

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. present — there
  3. spring — of water
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. pitch — completely
  9. swing — in golf
  10. present — the time now
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. swing — to play on
  14. spring — the season
  15. spring — a coil
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. swing — music
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. pound — a weight
  20. mine — for digging
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. present — a gift
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. pitch — a sports field

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