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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: staff · spring · mine · club · lie · file · mark · swing

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. club — for golf
  3. mine — for digging
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. spring — a coil
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. spring — the season
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. spring — of water
  10. file — a line of people
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — to play on
  13. staff — employees
  14. lie — to recline
  15. staff — a stick
  16. club — for dancing
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mark — a grade
  19. swing — in golf
  20. file — a tool
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. file — a document
  24. staff — employees

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