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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. clip — to cut
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — for a lock
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. wind — moving air
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. snap — to click
  11. swing — to play on
  12. fork — in a road
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. clip — a video
  15. roll — a list
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. key — in music
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — in golf
  24. clip — for paper

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