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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. cold — not warm
  4. swing — in golf
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cue — for pool
  7. ball — a dance
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. plane — a tool
  11. cue — a signal
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. swing — to play on
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. cue — a hint
  17. swing — music
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. ground — the earth
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ball — a great time

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