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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. field — a subject
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — employees
  6. court — of law
  7. swing — music
  8. shower — to wash
  9. spell — a short time
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. field — farmland
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. chip — to eat
  15. field — for sport
  16. chip — for betting
  17. shower — rain
  18. swing — in golf
  19. court — for sport
  20. swing — to play on
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. spell — letters
  23. spell — magic
  24. court — of a king

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