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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. pit — in a race
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bark — to shout
  9. plane — a tool
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wake — a trail
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. wind — moving air
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. swing — music
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. swing — in golf
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pit — a hole

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