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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: swing · club · tube · roll · foot · spring · board · sharp

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. tube — a container
  3. roll — a list
  4. board — to get on
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. spring — the season
  8. roll — a cake
  9. club — for dancing
  10. club — a group
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. swing — music
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. foot — a measure
  15. swing — in golf
  16. sharp — clever
  17. tube — the underground
  18. swing — to play on
  19. spring — a coil
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. club — for golf
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. spring — of water

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