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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. swing — in golf
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. swing — to play on
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. shower — to wash
  9. scale — size or range
  10. rock — music
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. rock — a stone
  14. last — finally
  15. club — for dancing
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. last — to go on
  18. shower — rain
  19. club — a group
  20. swing — music
  21. bark — to shout
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. club — for golf
  24. bark — of a tree

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