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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. bound — tied together
  4. swing — to play on
  5. last — to go on
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. clip — for paper
  8. game — wild animals
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bound — obliged
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. clip — a video
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. swing — music
  19. game — a match
  20. swing — in golf
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bound — certain
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. clip — to cut

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