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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: mine · squash · deal · snap · swing · roll · bat · stem

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. deal — to handle
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. stem — to come from
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. mine — for digging
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. swing — to play on
  15. snap — to click
  16. swing — in golf
  17. bat — the animal
  18. squash — to crush
  19. squash — the sport
  20. roll — a cake
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. swing — music
  24. roll — a list

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