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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: pop · lean · saw · chest · season · key · mine · swing

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. mine — for digging
  4. swing — to play on
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. lean — to bend
  8. key — in music
  9. season — of the year
  10. chest — of your body
  11. lean — thin
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — the tool
  14. key — for a lock
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. pop — to visit
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. season — in sport
  20. swing — in golf
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. pop — soda
  23. swing — music
  24. pop — music

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