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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: press · pitch · safe · mine · tear · spring · swing · squash

  1. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — the season
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. swing — to play on
  6. tear — to rip
  7. mine — for digging
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. press — to push
  11. squash — to crush
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. swing — in golf
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. pitch — completely
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. press — a publisher
  19. press — newspapers
  20. squash — the sport
  21. spring — of water
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. swing — music
  24. mine — an explosive

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