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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. mine — for digging
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. swing — in golf
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. rash — a series
  12. mark — a grade
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. wake — a trail
  15. rash — hasty
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. hand — help
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. bat — the animal
  21. swing — music
  22. hand — in cards
  23. mark — a trace
  24. hand — part of the body

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