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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 coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. cold — an illness
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chest — a box
  6. prune — to trim
  7. swing — music
  8. key — the most important part
  9. drill — a practice
  10. swing — to play on
  11. mark — a trace
  12. key — for a lock
  13. lean — to bend
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. lean — thin
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. chest — of your body
  19. prune — to trim
  20. mark — a grade
  21. drill — the tool
  22. key — in music
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. drill — army training

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