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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. chest — of your body
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. net — for catching
  5. swing — in golf
  6. present — the time now
  7. spring — a coil
  8. swing — music
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. chest — of your body
  13. present — there
  14. spring — the season
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. present — a gift
  17. swing — to play on
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. net — in sport
  21. chest — a box
  22. net — after costs
  23. spring — of water
  24. wave — of the sea

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