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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. spring — of water
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. spring — a coil
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. board — to get on
  10. swing — in golf
  11. swing — to play on
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. swing — music
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. date — the fruit
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. squash — the sport
  19. board — a committee
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. wake — a trail
  22. spring — the season
  23. squash — to crush
  24. wake — before a funeral

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