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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. court — for sport
  3. staff — a stick
  4. present — there
  5. present — the time now
  6. key — the most important part
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. present — a gift
  11. swing — music
  12. court — of law
  13. staff — employees
  14. key — in music
  15. key — for a lock
  16. court — of a king
  17. swing — to play on
  18. file — a document
  19. last — final
  20. swing — in golf
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — finally
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

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