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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. pop — soda
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. game — wild animals
  8. cold — an illness
  9. swing — to play on
  10. swing — music
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. content — the amount
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. pop — music
  16. pass — a permit
  17. pop — to visit
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. content — happy
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. game — a match
  24. arm — 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