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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 116 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wind — moving air
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. swing — in golf
  8. swing — to play on
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. capital — money
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. cell — in biology
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. capital — a city
  15. cell — a phone
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. swing — music
  19. march — the month
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. wind — moving air
  23. march — music
  24. lash — an eyelash

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