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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 120 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 coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. chair — a leader
  4. firm — steady
  5. firm — a company
  6. row — a line
  7. chest — a box
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. deal — to handle
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chest — of your body
  14. row — to paddle
  15. swing — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. sharp — clever
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. firm — decided
  21. swing — to play on
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. cold — not warm
  24. chair — to sit on

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