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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: object · land · swing · cold · season · chip · jam · mine

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. object — an aim
  3. season — of the year
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. swing — in golf
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. object — to protest
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. mine — for digging
  11. land — to come down
  12. chip — to eat
  13. land — a country
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — to play on
  17. cold — not warm
  18. object — a thing
  19. season — in sport
  20. land — ground
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — for betting
  24. jam — a tight spot

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