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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. rash — a series
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. march — the month
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. march — music
  11. swing — to play on
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. game — a match
  15. row — a line
  16. saw — the tool
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. march — the month
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. row — to paddle
  22. rash — hasty
  23. swing — in golf
  24. dip — to sink

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