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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. lean — to bend
  3. chest — of your body
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. chest — a box
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. ball — a dance
  9. wound — an injury
  10. lean — thin
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. mug — a face
  14. wound — an injury
  15. sharp — clever
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mug — a cup
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — to play on
  21. ball — a great time
  22. mug — to rob
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. swing — in golf

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