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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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. degree — an amount
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. degree — from a university
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. stock — goods
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stock — shares
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. chip — to eat
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. swing — to play on
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chip — for betting
  21. chair — a leader
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. swing — music
  24. straw — dry grass

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