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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. date — the fruit
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. last — to go on
  8. clip — a video
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. clip — to cut
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — to play on
  13. board — a committee
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. race — a contest
  16. clip — for paper
  17. race — the arms race
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. board — to get on
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. swing — in golf
  24. race — humankind

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