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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. club — for golf
  3. club — for dancing
  4. chest — of your body
  5. club — a group
  6. rush — hurry
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. tear — to rip
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. pitch — completely
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. chest — of your body
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. saw — the tool
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. saw — the tool
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. tear — from crying
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. chest — a box
  24. tear — from crying

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