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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. swing — music
  4. net — after costs
  5. pitch — completely
  6. swing — to play on
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. cell — in biology
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. capital — money
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. kick — in football
  14. net — for catching
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. net — in sport
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. wound — an injury
  20. swing — in golf
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. capital — a city
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cell — a phone

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