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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 120 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. 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. swing — in golf
  2. press — to push
  3. last — finally
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. last — to go on
  6. last — final
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. swing — music
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. press — newspapers
  13. press — a publisher
  14. kid — child
  15. swing — to play on
  16. mine — for digging
  17. kid — to tease
  18. 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