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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. file — a line of people
  6. swing — to play on
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. face — to point toward
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. file — a tool
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. face — to confront
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. file — a document
  19. wound — an injury
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. face — part of the head
  22. deal — to handle
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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