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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 coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. last — final
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. stand — to bear
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. roll — a cake
  7. last — to go on
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. last — finally
  10. date — the fruit
  11. cell — in biology
  12. swing — to play on
  13. swing — music
  14. cold — not warm
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. cold — an illness
  18. lean — to bend
  19. roll — a list
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. lean — thin
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. cell — a phone

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