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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. spring — a coil
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — in golf
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. object — an aim
  10. object — a thing
  11. object — to protest
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. race — the arms race
  16. spring — the season
  17. snap — to click
  18. shower — to wash
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. shower — rain
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. swing — to play on
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. spring — of water

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