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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: game · mine · trunk · saw · swing · season · tear · court

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. tear — to rip
  4. season — of the year
  5. game — a match
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. court — of law
  9. tear — from crying
  10. court — of a king
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — wild animals
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. mine — for digging
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. season — in sport
  17. swing — in golf
  18. tear — from crying
  19. saw — the tool
  20. court — for sport
  21. saw — the tool
  22. swing — to play on
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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