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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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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. spell — magic
  3. bulb — for light
  4. row — a line
  5. bulb — for light
  6. row — to paddle
  7. swing — in golf
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. swing — music
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. rash — hasty
  12. kid — child
  13. spring — a coil
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. spell — a short time
  17. spring — of water
  18. spell — letters
  19. spring — the season
  20. rash — a series
  21. kid — to tease
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. swing — to play on

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