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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. club — for dancing
  5. row — to paddle
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. pop — to visit
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. pop — soda
  10. swing — to play on
  11. stand — to bear
  12. bat — the animal
  13. pop — music
  14. land — ground
  15. swing — in golf
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. land — to come down
  19. row — a line
  20. club — a group
  21. land — a country
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. swing — music

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